PETALING JAYA: The current decline in the value of the ringgit against the US dollar is not as temporary as claimed by Umno’s Tan Sri Annuar Musa, Lim Guan Eng (pix) said today.
The former finance minister said the current decline of the ringgit’s value against the US dollar is not temporary when the ringgit has weakened by almost 9% this year from RM4.17 at end 2021 to the current 24-year low of RM4.54.
“Will Annuar not listen to how much more Malaysians have to pay for the price of a declining ringgit over the past year in the form of higher costs of imports? These additional costs are definitely not temporary in nature and cannot be recouped,” Lim said in a statement today.
The ringgit has continued to weaken against the US dollar over the past weeks, even breaching the 4.53 level, which is by far the lowest since the Asian Financial Crisis.
“Against the Singapore dollar, the ringgit has recently dipped to a historic low of RM3.26 whilst the Indonesian rupiah has appreciated by more than 4% this year against the ringgit,” the DAP lawmaker added.