Everything you need to know about the Malaysian currency:
Dealing with an unknown currency is one of the most common challenges a traveler faces when they step into a new country. Essentially, the first thing that calls for your utmost attention is getting local currency without paying a hefty sum of profit to the middleman. Being a newcomer in the country, you are always doing exchange rate calculations in your head, and then you fumble for the right amount of money while keeping a queue of people waiting behind you.
However, if you are in Malaysia or working with the Malaysian currency, you are in luck!
The Malaysian system of money is significantly easier to deal with and uncomplicated. Additionally, besides being colorful, the Malaysian banknotes are sized differently and prove to be perfect for visually impaired people, as they can judge the amount of money from the size. Furthermore, the different colors for varying amounts help you to learn the currency system swiftly.
But what currency does Malaysia use?
The currency issued by the Bank Negara Malaysia or the National Bank of Malaysia is called the Malaysian Ringgit. The currency code for the Malaysian Ringgit is MYR. However, the local abbreviation RM gets used commonly within the country. Moreover, the code gets used right before the amount like a prefix in the same manner as other currencies.
The Malaysian Ringgit:
The correct pronunciation for the word Ringgit is how you would read ring-it, which remains the same for every amount. The National Bank of Malaysia offers six banknotes, worth RM100, RM50, RM20, RM10, RM5, and RM1. Furthermore, they also grant coins worth 50sen or cent, 20sen, 10sen, and 5sen, respectively.
The name Ringgit means rugged, that refers to the Spanish silver money that was popular as a medium of exchange during ancient times and had rough edges. Before the August of 1975, the currency used was known as the Malaysian Dollar M$ or $. However, soon after, Malaysia made the unified decision of detaching Malaysian currency from the dollar. Hence, the Malaysian Ringgit came into existence, and the $ symbol got replaced with the new MYR or RM symbol in 1993.
Using the Ringgit in Malaysia:
As mentioned earlier in the article, the Malaysian Ringgit is available in RM100, RM50, RM20, RM10, RM5, and RM1. Also, each note of Ringgit gets determined with unique colors, which makes identification of the respective notes easy. Besides the banknotes, the Ringgit further gets branched into coins of 100sen, 50sen, 20sen, 10sen, 5sen, and 1sen. Apart from that, the size and weight of the coin seem interesting as well. They are not only small but incredibly lightweight too!
What are the currency exchange rates for the Malaysian Ringgit?
Just like any other currency in the world, the currency exchange rates for the Malaysian Ringgit keeps fluctuating. Nevertheless, there are multiple reliable services to find out the correct amount of money efficiently.
Following are links to the websites where you can do all the possible conversions,
Conclusion:
The Malaysian Ringgit stays on top of the list of the unique currencies in the world. Despite the challenges of the deadly coronavirus and its disastrous effects on the economy, it is consistently gaining strength.
