Ringgit Falls Most in Three Weeks as Oil Prices Slump Overnight
- Malaysia has 8.24 billion ringgit of debt maturing this week
- Government bond auction draws fewest bids in a month
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Malaysia’s ringgit fell the most in three weeks after Brent crude prices slumped overnight in New York, renewing concern about the impact on government finances for Asia’s only major oil exporter.
In a country that derives 22 percent of its income from oil-related sources, the halving in Brent crude prices from a 2014 peak has helped make the ringgit the region’s worst-performing currency this year. The losses have been exacerbated by a selloff in emerging-market assets amid slowing economic growth in China and a looming U.S. interest-rate increase. A report on Monday showed Malaysia’s factory output rose 3 percent in August from a year earlier, the slowest pace in 13 months.