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It will take more than patriotism to save Malaysia’s currency
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The Malaysian ringgit recently approached a level seen as near-catastrophic during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO FILE
Daniel Moss
Malaysia wants to be great again, at least in foreign exchange. The nation’s currency recently approached a level seen as near-catastrophic during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. The authorities insist the ringgit is way too cheap and blame forces outside the country, chiefly high interest rates in the United States. The remedies are modest, compared with the shock therapy meted out a couple of decades ago.
This time around, the government and the central bank have been careful not to encourage talk about reviving the radical solutions employed by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad a generation ago: capital controls and pegging the ringgit.
