Ringgit breaches 3.80 level against dollar

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit breached the 3.80 level against the US dollar this morning – the level at which it was pegged against the greenback in September 1998.

The peg, introduced during the East Asia financial crisis to arrest a slide in the currency, was scrapped in 2005.

At 9.01am, the local currency was quoted at 3.8040/8080 against 3.7760/7790 on Friday.

A dealer said the fall in the ringgit was in tandem with other regional peers as demand for emerging-market assets was dampened by the increasing risk that Greece will exit the eurozone after the country voted to reject the terms of a bailout.

Against other major currencies, the ringgit was traded mostly lower except against the euro.

It fell versus the Singapore dollar to 2.8151/8184 from 2.7997/7024 on Friday, weakened against the yen to 3.1053/1091 from 3.0684/0711 and fell against the pound sterling to 5.9160/9237 from 5.9000/9054 previously.

The local currency however rose against the euro to 4.1931/1983 from 4.1936/1977 on Friday. – Bernama