‘Dr M has no right to address issue’

See-To: Ringgit situation just as bad in 90’s

PETALING JAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the least qualified to use the strength of the ringgit to criticise the Prime Minister, says Barisan Nasional’s strategic communications deputy director Datuk Eric See-To.

Writing on his Facebook page, See-To said that when Dr Mahathir first became Prime Minister in 1981, the ringgit was RM2.30 to the US Dollar and RM1.10 to the Singapore Dollar.

“Never once in the entire time under Dr Mahathir had the ringgit ever strengthened appreciably against the USD,” See-To wrote.

He added that the ringgit plummeted to as low as RM4.86 (intraday) before Dr Mahathir pegged it at RM3.80 using capital controls.

“This means that under Dr Mahathir, the ringgit had weakened 65% from the day he started as PM to the time he retired or RM2.30 to RM3.80,” See-To wrote, adding that there was no 80% collapse in oil prices to explain the ringgit’s weaker position.

In contrast, the ringgit strengthened as much as 30% from RM3.73 to RM2.96 against the USD in 2012 and 2013.

And it was the United States’ intention to end its Quantitative Easing and raise interest rates,

Never once in the entire time under Dr Mahathir had the ringgit ever strengthened appreciably against the USD. Datuk Eric See-To

along with the 80% oil price collapse in late 2014 that saw the ringgit drop significantly.

“Along with the recent recovery of oil prices, our ringgit has now recovered part of its losses and is now at RM4.07, which is 9% weaker than when Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak first became the Prime Minister.

“Or 7% compared to the RM3.80 level that Dr Mahathir had pegged it at for many years,” See-To stated.

The recent trend also shows that the ringgit’s recovery had gained pace with many analysts predicting Malaysia’s currency would recover further to levels below RM4, added See-To.