Ringgit nearing crisis peg as Zeti's optimism not shared by everyone

Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIA'S ringgit is sliding towards its fixed exchange rate of a decade ago and central bank assurances the weakness will prove temporary aren't convincing everyone.

Macquarie Bank Ltd is reviewing its year-end forecast of 3.75 per US dollar after the currency sank last week to within 0.7 per cent of a 3.80 peg imposed by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad in 1998, during Asia's financial crisis.

Westpac Banking Corp and Macquarie say it's just a matter of time before that threshold is tested, given waning demand for emerging-market currencies as the US moves closer to raising interest rates.

The decline prompted Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz to say last week that the exchange rate wasn't consistent with the nation's econom…