Nonlinear prediction of Malaysian exchange rate with monetary fundamentals

This paper compares one-step-ahead out-of-sample predictions on Malaysian Ringgit-US Dollar exchange rate using the generalized regression neural network for a range of forecasting horizons from 1991M3 to 2008M8. We find that the monetary fundamentals are significant in explaining the dynamics of Malaysian exchange rate in a longer forecast horizon as the performance of monetary exchange rate models outperformed the random walk benchmark model. The results also revealed that Malaysian exchange rate market provides profitable short-term arbitrage opportunities with lagged observations, and the integration of autoregressive terms into the monetary exchange rate models enhanced the out-of-sample forecasting performance.