Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) policy of keeping interest rates low plays a positive role in keeping down the cost of borrowing but Malaysians need to understand that this also results in weakening ringgit, said economist Jomo Kwame Sundram.

"The US increasing interest rates forces everybody else to increase interest rates. So when some of you complain about the ringgit getting very weak, we have to (first) understand why it is getting very weak,” he explained.