The former prime minister says the local currency may slide a further 5% to a record-low RM5 per dollar.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad pegged the ringgit at 3.8 per dollar in September 1998, a policy that stayed in place until 2005.
The ringgit is the worst performer in emerging Asia this year, sliding almost 8% versus the greenback. It slumped to almost 4.8 per dollar last month, the weakest level since January 1998, the height of the multi-year crisis that roiled Asian financial markets. Bank Negara Malaysia has held its key rate at 3% since July, putting the gauge at a record discount to the upper bound of the Federal Reserve’s benchmark. At the same time, sputtering growth in China, Malaysia’s biggest trading partner, has weighed on its exports.
Mahathir, who first became prime minister in 1981, rejected a bailout by the International Monetary Fund. He instead introduced capital controls in September 1998 and then pegged the ringgit at 3.8 per dollar, a policy that stayed in place until 2005.
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