This guide sets out what FXMacroData serves today for the Malaysian ringgit. The MYR production catalogue is compact: eight series covering the Malaysian Government Securities yield curve, money supply from Bank Negara Malaysia, and monthly retail sales volume from the Department of Statistics Malaysia. The guide explains each series, when it is published in Kuala Lumpur time and UTC, and how USD/MYR traders can use it.
Quick answer
What is covered
8 MYR series: 2-year, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year government bond yields, M1, M2 and M3 money supply, and retail sales volume growth.
Who publishes it
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) for the bond yields and money supply, and the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) for retail sales.
Why it matters
MYR is a managed, non-internationalised currency whose moves are shaped by rate differentials, foreign bond flows and commodity exports. The yield curve and money data show those forces from the domestic side.
Takeaway: The MYR catalogue is a rates, money and consumption set. It does not currently include the Overnight Policy Rate or CPI, so read it alongside BNM's own policy statements.
Who Publishes Malaysian Data
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is the central bank. Its Monetary Policy Committee sets the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR), and BNM publishes monthly statistics on money and credit and on the government bond market. FXMacroData takes the Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) benchmark yields and the M1, M2 and M3 monetary aggregates from BNM's monthly statistics.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) publishes national statistics, including the monthly wholesale and retail trade survey from which the retail sales volume series is taken.
The ringgit operates under a managed float. Under BNM's foreign exchange policy the ringgit is not traded offshore, so international investors gain exposure onshore or through non-deliverable forwards. That structure makes foreign holdings of Malaysian government bonds, and the yields that attract them, an important channel for MYR flows.
FXMacroData records each row with the reference period (date) and, where available, the publication moment (announcement_datetime). Releases are typically available within seconds of official publication (release speed).
MYR Indicators Covered
Government bond yields
- 2-year and 3-year MGS yields: the short end, which tracks expectations for the OPR. A falling 2-year usually means the market is pricing BNM easing.
- 5-year and 10-year MGS yields: the benchmark for foreign investors in Malaysian bonds. The spread of the 10-year over US Treasuries is a key input into whether foreign money flows into or out of ringgit assets.
The bond series are monthly observations from BNM's statistics rather than daily closes, which suits trend and spread analysis better than intraday trading.
Money supply
- M1: currency in circulation plus demand deposits, the narrowest measure of liquidity.
- M2 and M3: broader aggregates that include savings and fixed deposits. Growth in broad money relative to nominal growth is a read on domestic credit conditions. History for these series in the catalogue starts in 2015.
Consumption
- Retail sales volume growth: DOSM's monthly year-on-year change in retail trade volume. Household spending is the largest component of Malaysian GDP, so this is the most direct monthly activity signal in the catalogue.
MYR Release Timing
Malaysia uses Malaysia Time (Asia/Kuala_Lumpur, UTC+8) all year, with no daylight saving. Both DOSM and BNM publish monthly statistics at midday local time, which is 04:00 UTC.
| Release | Publisher | Frequency | Local time (Asia/Kuala_Lumpur) | UTC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale and retail trade (retail sales volume) | DOSM | Monthly, around six weeks after the reference month | 12:00 | 04:00 |
| Monthly statistics: money supply | BNM | Monthly, end of the following month | 12:00 | 04:00 |
| Monthly statistics: MGS yields | BNM | Monthly | 12:00 | 04:00 |
DOSM publishes an advance release calendar for the year, so retail trade dates are known well ahead, and BNM's monthly statistics follow a regular end-of-month rhythm. That predictability makes the MYR series easy to schedule around, even though they are less market-moving on the day than a policy decision. FXMacroData still records the actual publication time, so any delay against the planned slot is visible in the data.
Bank Negara's Monetary Policy Committee meets six times a year and announces OPR decisions at 15:00 Kuala Lumpur time (07:00 UTC). Those decisions are not in the MYR catalogue, but they are the main scheduled event for the series above. Upcoming MYR release dates are on the release calendar.
Worked Example: July 2026 Retail Sales
DOSM's wholesale and retail trade release for July 2026 showed retail sales volume up 4.13 per cent on a year earlier, slightly slower than the 4.19 per cent recorded for June. The request:
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" "https://api.fxmacrodata.com/v1/announcements/myr/retail_sales?start_date=2026-07-01"The latest row returned (abridged to the fields used here):
{
"currency": "MYR",
"indicator": "retail_sales",
"data": [
{
"date": "2026-07-31",
"val": 4.13,
"previous_value": 4.19,
"previous_date": "2026-06-30",
"announcement_datetime": 1789099200,
"announcement_datetime_local": "2026-09-11T12:00:00+08:00"
}
]
}The epoch 1789099200 is 04:00 UTC on 11 September 2026, which is 12:00 local time (Asia/Kuala_Lumpur) on 11 September 2026.
The series has held in a narrow band this year: 3.88 per cent in April, 4.43 per cent in May, 4.19 per cent in June and 4.13 per cent in July. That stability is useful context for the yield curve: the 10-year MGS yield rose from 3.561 per cent at the end of April to 3.706 per cent at the end of July, a move that came with steady consumption rather than an acceleration in demand.
The July yield rows give a full snapshot of the MGS curve: 3.223 per cent at 2 years, 3.305 per cent at 3 years, 3.500 per cent at 5 years and 3.706 per cent at 10 years. That is a 2s10s slope of about 48 basis points, an upward-sloping curve that does not point to imminent easing. Each yield series is requested the same way; change retail_sales in the URL to gov_bond_2y, gov_bond_10y or m2.
Because the Malaysian series are monthly, they work best as a slow-moving backdrop. A common pattern is to combine them with daily series from other currencies in the catalogue, for example the US 10-year Treasury yield, so the monthly MGS observation is compared with the US yield on the same date to compute the spread.
How Traders Use MYR Data
- US-Malaysia yield spreads. The 10-year MGS yield minus the 10-year US Treasury yield is a standard USD/MYR input. A narrowing or negative spread can reduce the appeal of ringgit bonds to foreign investors.
- Curve shape as a policy signal. A 2-year yield moving below the 10-year by more than usual suggests the market expects BNM to ease; a flattening curve suggests the opposite.
- Consumption versus policy. Steady retail volume growth makes OPR cuts less likely; a sharp slowdown raises the odds. Traders use retail sales as the activity check on BNM's statements.
- Liquidity conditions. Broad money growth from M2 and M3 shows whether domestic liquidity is supporting asset prices and the currency, or tightening.
- Commodity context. Malaysia is a significant exporter of palm oil, liquefied natural gas and electronics. Traders often combine the domestic series above with commodity prices and regional currencies when judging USD/MYR.
The USD/MYR dashboard shows the catalogue series alongside price.
Related Pages
- Bank Negara Malaysia monetary policy guide for the OPR framework and MPC schedule.
- Malaysia indicator hub for every MYR series with charts and API documentation.
- USD/MYR dashboard for price and release markers.
- Release calendar for upcoming Malaysian events.
- Data coverage for all 22 currencies.
