Kuala lumpur: The ringgit has staged a strong comeback, rising from around the 4.70 level against the US dollar a few years ago to the 3.90 level currently, making it one of Asia's best-performing currencies, said World Bank lead economist for Malaysia Apurva Sanghi. At 4.15 pm, the ringgit was traded at 3.9135 against the US dollar.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Malaysia's economy is performing well, underpinned by solid economic growth, low inflation, and rising real wages. Apurva Sanghi noted that a strong ringgit is helping to bring down prices of imported food items such as onions, cabbage, and rice. He shared these insights in a post on the social media platform X today.

In the same post, Sanghi highlighted that tourism has been a surprising bright spot for the country. He emphasized the need for Malaysia to maximize value per visitor through experience-led tourism, citing the Mulu Cave tour in Sarawak as an example.

Sanghi also addressed concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) and employment, noting that about half of Malaysian workers face a high risk of automation, while around a quarter are exposed to generative AI. He acknowledged the reality of job losses but pointed out that history shows broad technological waves also create new jobs, similar to the internet era of the 1990s.

Apurva Sanghi further mentioned that early AI-era roles are already emerging, including AI trainers, data curators, and prompt engineers. He also noted that "human-touch" jobs, such as elder care, could see strong, rising returns, especially in an ageing Malaysia, which represents a wide-open and underexplored opportunity.