YOURSAY | 'If he fails to understand why the ringgit is falling, he should go back to university.'

Najib: I've been gone four months, why ringgit still falling?

Quigonbond: Why? Because perhaps this is the real level of the ringgit once the international analysts know of our government's debt level, coupled with the US-China trade war, the Philippines’ and Indonesian currencies under pressure, South African recession, and so on... it's not like former prime minister Najib Razak does not really know.

He's just pretending to be surprised.

Dudeno: Maybe Najib strengthened the US economy too much when he was prime minister. After all, that was what he had promised Trump.

Malaysia4All: The Singapore dollar has also fallen versus the US dollar over the past four months. Why do you think that is the case? So have the sterling pound and the euro. Basically, the US dollar has risen over the past four months compared to most other world currencies, stupid.

Clever voter: Najib has run out of issues. The ringgit's performance isn't as bad as it was before. Najib obviously hasn't heard of QE (Quantitative Easing) - US dollars heading back home, where interest rates are more attractive.

All foreign currencies are down. The Indonesian rupiah is relatively doing worse.

YTMQ: It's not only Malaysia, but also almost all emerging economies are facing currency devaluation vis-à-vis the US dollar. The reason is that the trade dispute between US and China is expected to hit these economies hard.

In addition, Trump is targeting the emerging economies, besides China. Just the check the currencies of leading emerging economies like Turkey, India and Indonesia.

As early as April 2018 (i.e. when you were still the prime minister), the warning was already out that Malaysia was expected to be adversely affected by the trade dispute. If you've been reading The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Financial Times, you would have known this already.

Are you still so upset with WSJ, because it exposed the 1MDB scandal, that you don't even bother to read it? Please stop wasting our time.

Anonymous 1723901485633972: Ringgit Malaysia is one of the best performing emerging market currencies since you have been gone. Malaysia has been weakened institutionally, constitutionally and financially under your watch. Now we have to clean up after your mess. Shameless.

EmEmKay: Najib, please read the economic news so you will understand that the Turkish lira's fall has spurred a sell-off in many emerging-market currencies. The contagion effect of the Turkish lira has affected the Malaysian ringgit, Chinese renminbi, Indonesian rupiah, Indian rupee and South African rand.

In fact, the Indonesian rupiah sank to its lowest level since October 2015. The Indian rupee stumbled to a record low and this can be attributed to higher crude oil prices, widening trade deficit and higher capital outflows.

Anonymous_1393992769: Najib, it's the same reasons why the Thai baht, Indonesian rupiah and other Asian currencies are falling. It's due to world market factors. Najib is the worst finance minister ever, and this is why he can't even figure this out.

Anonymous_2e7168df: Any Economics student will know that the ringgit is subject to world market conditions. Just for your information, the Indonesian rupiah has dropped to its lowest in decades (US$1: R14,850, when it used to be R13,200.

Compare these rates: Indian rupee (Jan US$1: Rs63, Sept US$1: Rs73). Vietnam Dong (Jan US$1: D22,680, Sept US$1: D23,200). Malaysian ringgit (Jan US$1: RM4.05, Sept US$1: RM4.15).

The fact here is that the ringgit is doing pretty well in comparison, given the fact that you, as the former prime minister cum finance minister, mismanaged the country and left our financial situation in a mess.

Anonymous 2439891477538802: If Najib fails to understand why the ringgit is falling, he should go back to university to finish his degree studies, and not burden the public with his unbearable ignorance. He misses the spotlight, and in denial, he makes himself an even bigger fool with his nonsensical statements.

Apache: Seriously? We now doubt where and how he obtained his economics degree! From Nothing-Hamburger University? The recent weaknesses in the ringgit are due to trade wars between US and China, and as a result, many of the regional currencies also weakened against the US dollar.

Najib should answer why the ringgit was 3.20 against the US dollar and 2.50 against the Singapore dollar before the whole 1MDB scandal hit the fan, and is now at US$4.10 and SG$3.20 respectively.

Anonymous_1421806811: What can we expect from a Nottingham University dropout who thought he was qualified to become the finance minister? Does it surprise anyone that in 10 years, he almost made the country bankrupt with his reckless kleptocracy? No wonder he is easily confused!

Sunshine: The present-day economic difficulties and challenges, including the decline in the value of our ringgit, are a consequence also of the lack of substance in the governance measures of the past decade under Najib.

Bravemalaysian: It was also during your time the ringgit dropped to US$4.6 and more, remember? Then, the economy was doing so much better. Now with billions siphoned out of the country for safekeeping by the thieves, it’s a miracle we are still holding the ringgit at this level.

If not for your departure, the country would have gone the way of Indonesia, Venezuela, Brazil or Argentina. Thank God we all got rid of Ali Baba and his gang of 40 thieves. The situation is a global problem and Malaysia is lucky that investors have confidence in the new government because of its integrity and transparency.

Fair minded Senior Citizen: You are clutching at straws, Najib. Do you know anything about international events that can have a great impact on Southeast Asian currencies, excluding Singapore (which is highly resilient)?

We have no buffer, as you have allegedly stolen all the reserves that we had and it will take time to rebuild. Again, we have to gain the confidence of international investors for solid investments, not just selling ourselves to the Chinese with the help of certain quarters in Johor.

You will go down in history as the one cartoon character who, with the help of others, brought shame and poverty to all Malaysians. You are a disgrace to your community to your family and to all hardworking Malaysians.

Cogito Ergo Sum: Najib, by continuously chipping away at Harapan and its policies, is doing his best to bring down the new government. His strategy is very simple. By a combination of half-truths and confounding variables, he hopes to cast doubts on Harapan’s governance.

Everyone knows it’s the US currency that has appreciated and not that the ringgit has depreciated. By publishing his propaganda, we would be guilty of disseminating his lies.

And he has a lot of experience in making numbers and statistics work in a crooked way. Najib, I wonder if this is your comeback strategy? It’s not working.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.