PUTRAJAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said the falling value of the ringgit against the Thai baht was not an indicator of the country’s economy, following a statement by Najib Razak which hit out at the Pakatan Harapan government over the ringgit’s performance.“The ringgit doesn’t just simply fall,” Mahathir said today. “The ringgit just went up again anyway.”
“What becomes a problem is the US dollar because what is happening with (US president Donald) Trump,” said the PH chairman after a meeting with the coalition’s leaders at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here.In a Facebook post yesterday, Najib said that three years ago, when global oil prices dropped by 80%, PH had played up “propaganda” that Thai traders did not want to accept the ringgit any more.
He claimed the ringgit was recovering against the baht before the 14th general election.
“However, the value of the ringgit against the baht went down after GE14 until it reached the 100 baht to RM13 mark for the first time.
“This comes at a time when global oil prices have recovered and are now two-and-a-half times more than three years ago,” the former prime minister and finance minister said.
He was commenting on the ringgit reaching a record low against the baht at RM13.15 to 100 baht (RM1 to 7.60 baht).
