PETALING JAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad has suggested that the ringgit should again be pegged at RM3.80 to the US dollar, a controversial policy the former prime minister introduced more than 20 years ago to stave off the Asian financial crisis.
Noting the ringgit’s recent slide against the dollar, Mahathir said it is fluctuating because its value is not fixed and guaranteed by the government.
As at 9.02am today, the ringgit stood at 4.3820/3860 to the US dollar compared with Tuesday’s close of 4.3800/3850
“When we set the value of the ringgit at RM3.80 per US dollar, and we guarantee the supply of US dollars to anyone willing to pay RM3.80 for 1 US dollar, then the value of the ringgit will no longer fluctuate,” he said in a statement today.
“Even currency traders cannot devalue the ringgit by selling it in large quantities.”
Mahathir recounted how this was also an issue during the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, when the value of the ringgit fell because of speculation by currency traders.
He pegged the ringgit at RM3.80 to the dollar in 1998 after blaming speculators for the plunge in Asian currencies, which led to a financial crisis across the region.
The peg lasted until 2005.
Mahathir noted that while his actions were initially criticised, financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund later acknowledged that the policy halted fluctuations in the value of the ringgit and helped restore the country’s finances.
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