Google Displays Incorrect USD to Ringgit Exchange Rate, Prompting Malaysia’s Central Bank to Demand Explanation

Currently, 1 US dollar is at 4.72 ringgit.

According to Google, on 15 March, 1 US dollar is at a whopping 4.98 ringgit, which broke the record of 1 US dollar is to 4.88 ringgit back in 1998, when a major financial crisis swept across Asia, heavily impacting Southeast Asian economies like Malaysia, leading to the depreciation of the Ringgit against major currencies.

So with RM5 per 1 USD on 15 March, I bet everyone is—

Oh, wait. That’s fake news?

But it was from Google, and it’s still fake?

Google Releases Incorrect US Dollar-Ringgit Exchange Rate Data for the Second Time in 2024, Says Malaysia’s Central Bank

Yes, this isn’t the first time.

Malaysia’s central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), has refuted erroneous exchange rate data displayed by Google. This incident marks the second time this year that incorrect US Dollar to Malaysian Ringgit (USD/MYR) rates have been circulated on the platform.

On 15 March, while the official BNM website showed a ringgit range between 4.7015 and 4.7075 against the USD, Google inaccurately displayed a peak of 4.98. This discrepancy represents a significant misrepresentation of market conditions.

“This is inaccurate information that does not reflect the actual trading,” the bank stated in a release to the Bernama news agency.

BNM noted that this isn’t an isolated event. A similar incident occurred on 6 February, prompting an initial warning to be issued to Google.

“As this is the second instance of misreporting, BNM will be engaging Google for an explanation of how the inaccurate reporting occurred and the corrective measures taken given that this is a recurring issue that has afflicted Malaysia and other countries in the past few months,” the bank declared.

The central bank emphasized the consequences of such errors, stating, “The exchange rate is market-sensitive data and any inaccurate reporting and circulation of unverified data can cause serious implications for the financial markets.”

Google has yet to issue any statement on the matter, but in its Google Finance Disclaimer page, the company indicated that it doesn’t verify any finance data and disclaims any obligation to do so.

The disclaimer further emphasizes that data within Google Finance is sourced from financial exchanges and other providers.

Any delays in this data are in line with agreements set forth by those exchanges and providers.

In other words, like what all AI would say, “Check your source lah we sometimes like to hallucinate one leh.”

You can watch this video to know why the USD is getting stronger against ringgits: