Malaysia’s ringgit rose to the strongest level in 18 months before a report today that may show growth in factory output gathered pace and on prospects the central bank will raise borrowing costs ahead of its peers. The ringgit will likely outperform the South Korean won and yen as the nation’s interest-rate advantage widens in the coming year, according to a research note from Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc yesterday. Industrial production increased 11.7% in January from a year earlier, compared with an 8.9% gain the prior month, a Bloomberg News survey showed.