Malaysia’s ringgit fell this week to its lowest level since the 1998 Asian financial crisis on the back of a stronger dollar and expectations of a subsequent sharp interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
Malaysia’s central bank said the ringgit’s low was due to the general appreciation of the dollar against non-US currencies, that the central bank did not target a specific exchange rate level, and that the ringgit had also outperformed other Asian currencies such as the yen, South Korean won and Thai baht.