From Bloomberg



The ringgit dropped 1.9 percent in December, the most among 11 Asian exchange rates tracked by Bloomberg. The currency weakened 2.5 percent over Nov. 28 and Dec. 1, the biggest two-day decline in more than 16 years, and reached 3.4497 per dollar today, the lowest since Feb 2010. It traded at 3.4480 as of 2:11 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur.

ING Groep NV and Credit Suisse Group AG pared forecasts for the currency this week, citing the damping effect of a slide in crude oil prices on the petroleum-exporting nation.

Malaysia will be the sole loser among Asia’s emerging markets from the decline in crude and the country may miss its 2015 fiscal deficit target, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. A 10 percent drop in prices will reduce economic growth by 0.2 percentage point, economists including Singapore-based Chua Hak Bin wrote in a Dec. 1 report.