FORMER prime minister Najib Razak said today he is not to be blamed for the depreciating ringgit as he is no longer the head of government.

Instead, the Pekan MP said, others, such as the Pakatan Harapan government, should be blamed.

“Why am I being blamed for the ringgit’s current weakness? Before GE14 (14th general election), the ringgit was around US$1=RM3.83,” he wrote in a post on Facebook.

“Since GE14, the ringgit has weakened considerably and has never recovered to what it was before GE14, not even once.

“Please ask your Menteri Kewayangan Lim Guan Eng (former Pakatan Harapan finance minister), current Minister of Finance (Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz) or ask your Atok (former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad) who promised you, ‘Najib turun, ringgit naik’.

“I have ‘turun’ since four years ago, so please go blame someone else.”

Bank Negara Malaysia governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus has said the ringgit weakening against the US dollar by 4.4% and the Singapore dollar by 2.4% this year were mainly driven by external factors.

Despite the weakening ringgit and higher cost of goods, she said Malaysia will not experience hyperinflation.

However, she said, Bank Negara will continue to manage the risks arising from both domestic and external developments and ensure that there are no sharp or wide swings in the value of the ringgit.

According to the central bank, as of April 29, US$1 is equivalent to RM4.359 while S$1 is equivalent to RM3.14.

The Singapore dollar hit an all-time high against the ringgit on April 25 when it traded at RM3.165.

According to data from Bloomberg, the previous high was on March 31, 2017, when the Singapore dollar fetched RM3.1650. – April 29, 2022.