Exchange rate fluctuations and industrial production in Malaysia: evidencefrom dynamic simulated ARDL analysis

Contemporary literature argues that the exchange rate serves as an important instrument of industrial policy to boost economic growth. However, it is difficult to design effective exchange rate policies owing to the uncertainty shrouding the outcomes of the exchange rate movement for industrial growth. Therefore, this study uses a dynamic simulated autoregressive distributive lags approach to study the impact of positive and negative changes in the real effective exchange rate on industrial production of Malaysia for the period 1970–2022. We employ an extended production function to study this relationship by incorporating capital, labour and globalisation as additional explanatory variables. The findings suggest that positive (negative) changes in real effective exchange rate are followed by positive (negative) changes in economic growth in the long run. Furthermore, positive changes in capital affect economic growth positively and significantly in both the short and long run. Finally, positive (negative) movement in labour and globalization positively (negatively) and significantly affect industrial production in the long run respectively. Policymakers should depreciate currency to expand industrial production in Malaysia. Moreover, to boost industrial production, short-term loans should be introduced for capital accumulation.