Ringgit Weakening..?

Morgan Stanley forecasts the ringgit will decline 3.5 per cent to 3.75 per dollar by December 31 and to 4.00 by end-June 2009

INVESTORS should buy so-called “butterfly” options on the Malaysian ringgit in a bet that volatility will rise by year-end as the central bank tolerates a weaker currency, according to Morgan Stanley.The US bank forecasts the ringgit will drop 3.5 per cent to 3.75 per dollar by December 31 and to 4.00 by the end of June as growth in Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy cools and Bank Negara Malaysia cuts interest rates.

A central bank report tomorrow may show gross domestic product expanded in the third quarter at the slowest annual pace in more than three years, a Bloomberg News survey shows.