KUALA LUMPUR – Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has rejected claims that he directed Google to remove its currency converter widget for the ringgit.
His response follows concerns about the search engine’s “inaccurate” reporting of the currency’s exchange rate relative to the US dollar.
The unity government spokesperson clarified Google disabled the widget after receiving feedback from Bank Negara Malaysia.
“According to Google, they are currently testing with their chosen FX data provider and will reinstate the widget once they are assured that the issues will not happen again,” he said in a post on X today.
Fahmi was responding to a comment from a social media user who had derided him, claiming that his main contribution as a minister had been “instructing” Google to remove its currency converter feature.
In March, Google Malaysia apologised for the incorrect US dollar–ringgit (USD-MYR) exchange rate published on its finance page.
The company also clarified that the exchange rates it provides are for informational purposes only.
Previously, Fahmi demanded an explanation from Google regarding the bad image it portrayed for the country through its inaccurate ringgit exchange rate data published on March 15.
Google had shown the ringgit being traded at 4.98 against the US dollar on that day.
In reality, the ringgit was quoted at 4.7015 against the greenback at 9am and 4.7045 at 5pm, with an intraday high of 4.7075 in the onshore interbank market for the local note, as published on BNM’s website.
It is noted that this was the second incident in which Google published inaccurate USD-MYR exchange rate data in 2024.
BNM had earlier issued a stern warning letter to Google when the first misreporting occurred on February 6. – August 15, 2024