Ringgit, bonds slide as KL flags RM30b shortfall

Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIAN bonds fell and the ringgit's three-day gain petered out after the New Straits Times cited Prime Minister Najib Razak as saying the government faced a RM30 billion (S$9.88 billion) shortfall in 2016 due to a slump in oil prices.

The decline in bonds drove 10-year yields to the highest this month, while the currency dropped 1.1 per cent to 4.2635 a dollar as at 3.48pm in Kuala Lumpur, erasing its 0.4 per cent gain over the previous three days, according to data from local banks compiled by Bloomberg.