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Beef up fight vs poverty, gov’t told

REUTERS

THE GOVERNMENT of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. should double its efforts to address poverty, a lack of livelihood opportunities, low wages among other issues amid increasing prices of basic goods, human rights group iDefend said on Sunday.

This comes ahead of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights review of the Philippine human rights situation from Feb. 18 to 19 in Geneva.

“The Philippine government has failed to implement structural reforms necessary to address the high incidence of poverty, lack of livelihood opportunities, inadequate wages, high inflation rates, and food insecurity leaving the Filipino people,” the watchdog said in a statement.

Philippine lawmakers and civic groups have called on the government to prioritize legislated wage hike proposals to help workers cope with the high prices of goods, transportation, and monthly utility bills.

The House of Representatives approved on second reading a bill that seeks to give minimum wage workers a P200 daily increase.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board of the National Capital Region in July last year approved a P35 minimum wage hike for workers in Metro Manila, bringing the daily pay for nonagricultural workers to P645.

This was way lower than the petitions filed by labor groups seeking monthly pay increases of P597 to P750.

“These economic disparities persist, leaving a significant portion of the population unable to fully enjoy their basic rights to food, health, housing, work, and education,” iDefend said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Trees ideal for copper-rich town mulled

COTABATO CITY — The Mines and Geosciences Bureau-12 (MGB-12) and a private university are studying the propagation of plants and trees scientifically suitable in metal-rich areas in South Cotabato as an environment-protection measure.

Radio reports on Saturday in Cotabato City and in provinces in Region 12 stated that researchers and geologists from the MGB 12, the University of Mindanao (UM) and a private firm met last week in Tampakan, South Cotabato and started a study where to get rare metallophytes, or plants that can survive in lands with metal deposits for massive propagation in the municipality.

The five-year project also involves the Sagittarius Mines Incorporated, the Tampakan-Copper Gold Project with a written permission from Blaan tribal leaders in Tampakan and from the National Commission on Indigenous People.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-12, MGB-12, the UM, whose main campus is in Davao City, and the SMI will push the metallophyte plant and tree project forward, dubbed Trial Planting of Forest Tree Species Inoculated with Mycorrhiza in SMI Copper-Gold Environment. — John Felix M. Unson

POC chief Tolentino to get regular funding for victorious PHL curlers

ASIAN WINTER GAMES gold medal winner Philippine men’s curling team — PHILIPPINE STAR/RUSSELL PALMA

WITH curling finally getting full attention from the Philippines after the country’s historic performance in the Harbin Asian Winter Games, it’s now time to focus on the next important thing for it to be sustained — funding.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham Tolentino on Sunday said they would ask no less than President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. himself to get regular funding for the victorious Filipino curlers, composed of Marc and Enrico Pfister and Christian Haller, Allen Frei and Benjo Delarmente who funded their own trip.

“They are paying for their own expenses, so we really need that financial support to sustain them for all their competitions. If we meet the President, we will make a request to support their journey to the Winter Olympics,” said the Tagaytay City mayor who hosted the media briefing of the Filipino curlers in his city.

The squad will get P2 million as incentives from the government for their effort and the amount should help defray the cost of the money they have been spending to fuel their campaign.

But it will not be enough though.

Curling Pilipinas has yet to get official funding from the government because it was only formed four years ago and got regular membership status from the Philippine Olympic Committee only last year.

Interestingly, the one who heads it is Mr. Delarmente himself — the alternate of that same national team that delivered the country its breakthrough gold and its highest finish at fifth in the quadrennial meet.

“I was very happy to do it, I love curling, I’m very passionate about curling and I believe Filipinos can excel at curling, which is a combination of billiards, bowling, chess and holen (marble),” said Mr. Delarmente, who said the group’s origin started 15 years ago when he and his vice-president Joselito Cruz started a Facebook chat group and tried to look for other Filipino curlers.

“It was supposed to be a group to connect with other Filipino curlers. Our long term goal was to establish curling as an NSA (national sports association) in the Philippines and promote it to the whole country,” said Mr. Delarmente.

Somewhere along the way, the group saw the Mr. Pfister siblings, who have Filipino roots, compete then for Switzerland in the World Cup in Las Vegas, Nevada and joked with them if they could represent the Philippines in the future.

Miraculously, Marc Pfister replied it’s a possibility.

And, as they say, the rest is history.

Mr. Delarmente said they’re now focusing on qualifying for the Winter Games in Milano Cortina, Italy, which he compared to like threading the proverbial eye of the needle.

“In 2024, after we won the gold medal in Division B of the Pan-Continental Championship, we earned an invitation to the pre-qualification event in October (2025). The top three there will go to the Olympic qualification event in December with the top two getting the final two slots to the (Winter) Olympics,” he said.

“We’ll have challenges, but we’re very confident our team will prevail.” — Joey Villar

Adamson’s rookie Shaina Nitura sets record 33 points off reverse sweep against Ateneo

SHAINA NITURA — UAAP

Games on Wednesday
(Filoil EcoOil Centre)
9 a.m. – Ateneo vs NU (men)
11 a.m. – Ateneo vs NU (women)
3 p.m. – UP vs FEU (men)
5 p.m. – UP vs FEU (women)

SHAINA NITURA sent shockwaves in a rousing collegiate debut, firing a rookie record of 33 points as Adamson University pulled off a reverse sweep against Ateneo de Manila University, 21-25, 20-25, 25-12, 25-15, 15-12, in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The super rookie, who went supernova with 28 kills, four blocks and an ace, erased the record of Santo Tomas’ Angge Poyos (31) last season for the most points by a first-year player in history to announce her arrival as the next big thing in the country’s premier collegiate league.

Ms. Nitura, the former UAAP girls’ MVP, also matched the highest output in Adamson history set by Angela Benting in 2009 as the Lady Falcons ushered in a new era in style by turning back the Blue Eagles from 0-2 set down.

Ms. Nitura last year anchored Adamson to a 14-0 sweep of the juniors’ division to bring home the school’s first-ever girls’ volleyball title and wasn’t to be denied even against the top dogs in collegiate play.

And she saved the best for last, hammering out five points in the deciding fifth after spearheading the Lady Falcons’ dominant rally in the third and fourth set, 25-12, 25-15.

Clinging to a precarious 12-11 lead in the rubber, Ms. Nitura dropped back-to-back hammers before another rookie Frances Mordi from Nigeria closed out the Blue Eagles to finish with 23 points on 16 attacks, five blocks and two aces.

Quarterbacking Adamson’s come-from-behind win was Felicity Sagaysay, Ms. Nitura’s teammate in their championship run and the girls’ division Best Setter, with 10 sets and five points.

The Lady Falcons, who fell just short in the first two sets, did it despite losing veteran middle blocker May Ann Nuique due to an ankle injury.

Ateneo’s Geezel Tsunashima also went down with a leg injury and had to be stretched off the court albeit she finished with 10 points as AC Miner (18) and Yvanna Sulit (10) led the way in Ateneo’s meltdown.

Adamson takes on powerhouse De La Salle University next for a 2-0 bid on Saturday as Ateneo will have its mettle tested on Wednesday against reigning champion National University (NU).

NU and La Salle were playing at press time in the duel between heavy title favorites, also starring superstar MVPs Bella Belen and Angela Canino.

In men’s volleyball, NU kickstarted its five-peat bid with a 25-22, 25-22, 25-19 sweep of La Salle as Ateneo drubbed Adamson, 25-17, 25-19, 22-25, 25-23. — John Bryan Ulanday

Gilas suffers a blowout loss to Lebanon, 54-75

IT WAS the exact opposite of the fiery way Gilas Pilipinas finished its opening assignment against Qatar.

And no thanks to a fumbling fourth quarter, the Nationals sustained a lopsided 54-75 loss at the hands of Lebanon to slip to 1-1 in the Doha Invitational Cup in Qatar early on Sunday (Manila time).

Less than 12 hours after hammering out a come-from-behind 74-71 verdict against the host Qataris behind a blistering 23-11 salvo in the final 10 minutes of play, the Filipino dribblers fought the Lebanese toe-to-toe only to fade in the windup.

After scoring the first basket of the final period via Aj Edu’s putback, the troops of coach Tim Cone went cold and fired blanks as the Cedars unloaded a telling 14-0 blast to create a 15-point separation.

Aside from Mr. Edu, only Calvin Oftana managed to buy a bucket for the Philippines as Chris Newsome and CJ Perez each had a split the rest of the way amid Lebanon’s dizzying 24-6 closing barrage.

Justin Brownlee (JB) posted a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double outing but failed to trigger a late charge for Mr. Cone’s crew and the throng of Pinoy supporters cheering them on.

Support for JB came from Mr. Oftana (10 markers), Scottie Thompson (11 boards, seven rebounds and three assists) and Mr. Edu (6-6) but surely it wasn’t enough to get the Filipinos to back-to-back wins in the four-nation meet.

Jad Khalil fired 18 spiked by a three-of-seven shooting from deep while Gerard Hadidian also shot 18 and added eight rebounds to pace the Cedars, who bounced back from their 70-82 opening loss to Egypt at the expense of the Filipinos.

Mr. Brownlee and Co. get a shot at a quick pull around as they face the Egyptians on Monday at 1:30 a.m. (Manila time) at the conclusion of hostilities at the Qatar University Sports and Events Complex. The Egyptians are 2-0 after stamping their class on hosts Qatar as well, 83-54. — Olmin Leyba

The scores:

Lebanon 75 — Hadidian 18, Khalil 18, Zeinoun 13, Majok 12, Mezher 8, Rtail 4, Makhlouf 2, Khoueiry 0, Samaha 0, Moussa 0.

Philippines 54 — Brownlee 21, Oftana 10, Thompson 7, Edu 6, Ramos 5, Fajardo 2, Newsome 1, Quiambao 1, Perez 1, Tamayo 0, Amos 0, Malonzo 0.

Quarterscores: 13-12, 26-28, 51-48, 75-54.

Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro wins 3-point contest; Cleveland Cavaliers duo takes skills challenge

THE MIAMI HEAT’S Tyler Herro made both of his three-point bonus balls in the final round and won the 3-point contest during All-Star Saturday at San Francisco.

Earlier in the evening, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ duo of Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell won the skills challenge.

Herro won the 3-point crown with a score of 24 in the final round to get the best of Darius Garland of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who posted a score of 19, and Buddy Hield of the host Golden State Warriors, with a score of 23.

Herro became the fifth Miami Heat player to win the long-distance shooting competition after James Jones (2011), Daequan Cook (2009), Jason Kapono (2007) and Glen Rice (1995).

Herro went first in the final round, with Garland eliminated when he followed with a 19. Hield could have forced an extra round against Herro if he made all five two-point shots on his final rack but he missed the fourth of the bunch.

“I got lucky,” Herro said on the TNT broadcast. “I thought Buddy was going to run off the last five there, so it was a great competition. Buddy’s a great shooter, a bunch of great shooters that competed, so just happy to be here.”

Hield had the highest score of the first round with a 31, matching the most ever in a round with the Warriors’ Stephen Curry (2021) and the Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton (2023).

Five competitors were eliminated in the 3-point first round: Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks), Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons), Cam Johnson (Brooklyn Nets), Norman Powell (Clippers) and Lillard.

In the skills challenge, the Cavaliers delivered a final-round time of an even one minute, while the Warriors’ Draymond Green and Moses Moody were unable to top the combined time of Mobley and Mitchell.

The four-team skills challenge consisted of an obstacle-style course that had two passing tests, three shooting stations, one more passing station followed by a half-court drive to the basket and layup.

Mobley also was a part of the Cavaliers’ three-player squad that won the skills challenge in 2022.

The San Antonio Spurs’ duo of Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama was disqualified from the opening round on Saturday after not making a legitimate shot attempt at any of the three shooting stations, while simply concentrating on time.

The rookie squad of Zaccharie Risacher of the Atlanta Hawks and Alex Sarr of the Washington Wizards also was eliminated in the first round. — Reuters

Anisimova beats Ostapenko in Qatar, wins first WTA 1000 title

DOHA — Amanda Anisimova claimed her first WTA 1000 title when she beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the Qatar Open on Saturday which will see the American break into the top 20 for the first time in her career.

Ranked 41 in the world, Anisimova also became the lowest-ranked player to win the tournament as she beat six top-40 opponents en route to her third singles title.

The American was ranked as low as 359 in 2023 when she took a break from the game due to burnout as it took a toll on her mental health but the 23-year-old has been on the rise since her comeback and is set to move up to 18th in the rankings.

Anisimova is only the second American to win the title, following in the footsteps of Monica Seles in 2002, while Ostapenko has now finished runner-up in Doha for a second time having also lost in the 2016 final.

“With tennis you kind of experience it all but that’s also why I love it. There have been a lot of challenges the last few weeks. I’m very proud of myself and happy with how I’ve dealt with them.” — Reuters

Skills Challenge

The Skills Challenge has invariably been one of the more entertaining offerings during the National Basketball Association All-Star Weekend, and the latest edition lived up to expectations. Competition the other day was, mildly put, intense, with the Cavaliers ending up the winners following two rounds of outstanding play. They clearly wanted to prevail; no less than fellow All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley were on hand to represent the provisional leaders in league standings, and they navigated the obstacles with a clear eye toward putting in the best times possible.

To be sure, the same goal was on the Spurs’ minds when they kicked off the competition. It was just too bad that, in their desire to finish the course as fast as they could, they figured on gaming the system. As things turned out, skipping the shooting requirements by simply tossing the balls aside was not allowed, leading to their disqualification. Needless to say, they argued their case; Chris Paul — 20 years in the league and certainly no stranger to pushing the envelope — even went so far as to plead to an official behind the scenes. For their efforts, they were literally handed a rulebook along with a denial.

Interestingly, sophomore sensation Victor Wembanyama disclosed in the aftermath that he came up with the idea — best described as unsportsmanlike — to shave off precious seconds from their time. “We had the best time,” he said, the misstep notwithstanding. “I’m going to have many more opportunities to win it in the future.” Needless to say, his admission ran counter to conventional wisdom; during the festivities, broadcasters Mark Jones and Reggie Miller took pains to note that the development had Paul’s fingerprints all over it.

In any case, the Cavaliers deserved the hardware. It was also no surprise that they had to beat the host Warriors in the final. Not without irony, they clinched their victory following three uncharacteristic passing miscues from otherwise-superior setup man Draymond Green; he was unable to match teammate Moses Moody’s efforts and didn’t even get to finish the course. Bottom line, they proved to be the best of the best. And when they compete in the event next year, they know they’ll be the favorites and in great shape to defend their title with no need for shenanigans.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

Trump ends climate work inside agency that responds to disasters 

THE SHELLS of burned houses and buildings are left after wildfires driven by high winds burned across most of the town in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, US Aug. 11. — HAWAI’I DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

TOP OFFICIALS at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) received a memo on Friday ordering an immediate stop to work connected to climate change and the elimination of climate-related terms across the agency.

The memo instructs senior office heads to “eliminate all climate change activities and the use of climate change terminology in DHS policies and programs, to the maximum extent permitted by the law,” according to the document seen by Bloomberg News. The changes are meant to bring “alignment” with Mr. Trump’s executive orders that reverse multiple climate-related orders by former President Joseph R. Biden, it said.

The directive from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem marks the latest move by President Donald Trump and his appointees to roll back federal efforts to address global warming and could affect disaster response capabilities which are overseen by DHS.

DHS did not immediately provide a comment outside of regular business hours on the climate-related contents of the memo.

In the three weeks since Mr. Trump’s inauguration, his administration has already moved to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, halted the flow of billions of federal grant dollars funded by two major climate laws, and abruptly fired or put on administrative leave hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency staff who work on climate or environmental justice.

Activities impacted by Ms. Noem’s new directive at DHS include modifying or terminating contracts related to climate change, ending participation in climate working groups, revising or rescinding climate policies and ending reporting requirements. Ms. Noem also ordered agency leaders to remove “climate change terminology in all DHS programs, policies, products, communications, and activities,” according to the document. In her previous job as South Dakota governor, Ms. Noem questioned the established scientific consensus that humans have caused climate change, Politico reported.

With a workforce of more than 260,000, the Department of Homeland Security is an umbrella organization that includes Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Coast Guard, and Customs and Border Protection, among other offices. But perhaps the one most impacted by the new directive is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the nation’s primary means for organizing federal responses to disasters. As wildfires, storms and floods increase in frequency and intensity due as a result of rising temperatures, FEMA has been responding to more disasters and spending more money to help impacted communities.

The climate reversal inside DHS comes against a backdrop of worsening indicators. Experts confirmed last month was the hottest January on record, surpassing a high mark set in January 2024, and scientists published two recent studies concluding that global average temperatures have likely already warmed 1.5C above preindustrial levels. FEMA has been busy, meanwhile, dealing with the aftermath of Los Angeles wildfires that destroyed thousands of buildings and will likely rank among the most expensive disasters in US history.

It’s been a chaotic period for federal workers involved in disaster response. On Feb. 9, Ms. Noem told a CNN interviewer she would seek to “get rid of FEMA the way it exists today.” Shortly thereafter a senior FEMA official allegedly ordered a freeze on grants in defiance of a judicial order, NBC News reported.

Around this same time, DHS announced that it had fired four FEMA staff, including its long-time chief financial officer, over accusations of “circumventing leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments for luxury NYC hotels for migrants,” according to the Washington Post. The payments in question are part of a DHS grant program previously appropriated by Congress.

It’s unclear what will change inside FEMA and elsewhere at DHS as a result of the memo, but experts worried about far-reaching consequences.

“Erasing the words ‘climate change’ is bad,” said Samantha Montano, a disaster researcher at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. “But there are ways to work around that.” She worried that eliminating any funds to climate-related programs would become “a much bigger kind of operational problem.”

Carrie Speranza, the former chair emeritus of FEMA’s National Advisory Council before the Trump administration disbanded the group last month, raised concerns about how the agency would now respond to big disasters that often have a strong link to rising temperatures.

“We just need to make sure that we acknowledge that these disasters are getting bigger,” she said. “And so that just requires more resources at the end of the day.” — Bloomberg

Australia to put two-year ban on foreigners buying existing homes

BW FILE PHOTO

SYDNEY — Australia will ban foreign investors from buying existing homes in the country for two years, its government said on Sunday, in an effort to boost under-pressure housing supply.

“We’re banning foreign purchases of established dwellings from April 1, 2025, until March 31 2027,” treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement with housing minister Clare O’Neil. It added that a review would be undertaken on whether the ban would be extended.

Dissatisfaction with housing in Australia reached an all-time high last year and it is an issue that is expected to dominate a general election due by May.

Ms. O’Neil said in comments televised by the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the ban would likely free up around 1,800 properties per year for local buyers.

“These initiatives are a small but important part of our already big and broad housing agenda which is focused on boosting supply and helping more people into homes,” the ministers’ statement said.

Housing is the largest contributor to the rising cost of living in Australia and is set to be a key issue at the upcoming election. A recent poll had the center-left Labor government lagging its main conservative political opposition.

The government recently passed housing reforms including a shared equity scheme and tax incentives for developers, to ease cost pressures and achieve a target of building 1.2 million new homes by 2030. — Reuters

Trump: If it saves the country, it’s not illegal

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump gestures as he walks to board Marine One, during his departure for Palm Beach, Florida from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, US on Feb. 7, 2025. — REUTERS

WASHINGTON — Echoing France’s Napoleon Bonaparte, US President Donald Trump on Saturday took to social media to signal continued resistance to limits on his executive authority in the face of multiple legal challenges.

“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” Mr. Trump, a Republican, proclaimed on his Truth Social network. The White House did not respond to a request for more details.

The phrase, attributed to the French military leader who created the Napoleonic Code of civil law in 1804 before declaring himself emperor, drew immediate criticism from Democrats.

“Spoken like a true dictator,” Senator Adam Schiff of California, a longtime adversary of Mr. Trump, wrote on X.

Mr. Trump, who took office on Jan. 20, has made broad assertions of executive power that appear headed toward US Supreme Court showdowns. Some lawsuits accuse Mr. Trump of usurping the authority of Congress as set out in the US Constitution.

While Mr. Trump said he abides by court rulings, his advisers have attacked judges on social media and called for their impeachment. Vice-President JD Vance wrote on X this week that judges “aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”

Washington lawyer Norm Eisen, who like Mr. Schiff worked on the first of Mr. Trump’s two impeachment trials, said Mr. Trump’s lawyers have repeatedly tried to argue that if the president does it, it’s not illegal.

Napoleon’s saying, he said, excuses illegal acts.

“This is a trial balloon and a provocation,” Mr. Eisen said of Mr. Trump’s message.

Mr. Trump, whose longtime slogan is “Make America Great Again,” attributed his survival of an assassination attempt in July to God’s will.

“Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness,” he said after his election victory. — Reuters

Malaysia’s economy ends 2024 on high note amid strong investment, domestic spending

A view of Kuala Lumpur skyline in Malaysia, Feb. 16, 2017. — REUTERS

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s economy grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter of 2024 amid strong domestic demand and a recovery in exports, the central bank said on Friday, as it expects investment activities and household spending to drive growth this year.

Bank Negara Malaysia said the 5% year-on-year growth in gross domestic product during October-December was driven by domestic demand, strong investment activity, and sustained household spending.

But it cautioned that the outlook remains subject to risks, including an economic slowdown in major trading partners amid heightening expectations of global trade and investment restrictions, as well as lower-than-expected commodity production.

The fourth-quarter reading was above both an official advance estimate and analysts’ forecast in a Reuters poll of a 4.8% expansion, but softer than the 5.4% expansion in the previous quarter.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, the economy contracted 1.1%, compared to a revised 1.9% rise in the third quarter.

“Growth was weighed down by contraction in the commodities sector following lower oil palm output as well as the continued decline in oil production,” the central bank said in a statement.

Full-year growth in 2024 was 5.1%, in line with an advance estimate and the government’s forecast range of 4.8% to 5.3%, and compared to 3.6% in 2023.

The government and central bank have forecast the economy will grow between 4.5% and 5.5% in 2025.

Central bank Governor Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said economic growth this year will be driven by “robust expansion in investment activity, resilient household spending and expansion in exports.”

Annual headline inflation moderated to 1.8% in the fourth quarter of 2024 from 1.9% in the third quarter, while full-year inflation eased to 1.8% from 2.5% in 2023.

Inflation is expected to remain manageable in 2025 amid easing global cost conditions and the absence of excessive domestic demand pressures, the central bank said, though it cautioned that government policies would contribute to upward pressure on prices.

Last year, the government cut costly blanket subsidies for diesel, electricity, and chicken, among others, and plans to extend the policy to a widely used transport fuel in the middle of 2025.

Capital Economics said growth will ease slightly this year due to tighter fiscal policy and a moderation in investment, adding the government’s plan to further cut subsidies would weigh on consumer spending.

“We think Gross Domestic Product growth will ease to 4.8% this year, from 5.1% last year. But with inflation set to rise on the back of subsidy cuts, we think the central bank will keep interest rates unchanged for the foreseeable future” economist Shivaan Tandon said in a note.

The central bank held its key interest rate unchanged at 3.00% last month, where it has been since May 2023, citing strong economic growth and steady inflation, while warning of potential currency volatility.

The ringgit is expected to remain influenced by external factors, the central bank said, but Malaysia’s positive economic prospects and policies will provide support in the medium-term. — Reuters