Bank Negara named Dr M as one of 3 reasons for ringgit slump, says Ahmad Maslan

Denying that he blamed Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the slump in the Malaysian ringgit, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan says he only followed Bank Negara's briefings on the matter. – The Malaysian Insider pic, June 17, 2015.

Datuk Ahmad Maslan today said it was Bank Negara that listed Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as one of three key reasons for the drop in the Malaysian currency's value over the past year.

Clarifying a report by Utusan Malaysia on Sunday, the deputy finance minister said the central bank reported that the former prime minister's attacks against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had an impact on the country's political stability.

"Our political stability is affected by the attacks done by Dr Mahathir and this creates a lot of uncertainty in foreign investors' perception of the country," Ahmad Maslan said of the Bank Negara analysis on the issue.

He said that the other two reasons given by Bank Negara for the slump in the Malaysian ringgit are the uncertainties over interest rates in the United States, and the fall in commodity prices, including the price of oil.

“Those are the three things briefed to me. I did not simply say that Dr Mahathir is the reason without concrete information and feedback from Bank Negara,” Ahmad Maslan told the Dewan Rakyat today.

On Sunday, Ahmad Maslan was quoted by Mingguan Malaysia, the weekend edition of the Umno mouthpiece, as saying "issues brought forward by Dr Mahathir and supported by certain groups are said to have also contributed to the decline of ringgit”.

He had said this in response to Dr Mahathir's comments last Thursday that political factors may have played a part leading to the weakening ringgit despite the country having strong economic fundamentals.

The former Umno president said while the depreciation of the currency during his tenure in the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis was the work of currency traders, the current scenario “had some political influence” to it.

The longest serving Malaysian prime minister has been a strong critic of the Najib administration, especially concerning debt-laden 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

In recent months, the ringgit has been under pressure, by continued strengthening of the US dollar and low oil prices.