Bank Negara Malaysia will not peg ringgit - Governor

"(The) ringgit will continue to face volatility mainly due to uncertainties in the external environment. The value of the ringgit should not be determined by speculative position," he said.

The ringgit depreciated against most major and regional currencies during the third quarter, he said at a press conference after announcing a 4.3 per cent Gross Domestic Product growth for the third quarter this year.

He said this was a reflection of the shift in investor sentiments and the rebalancing activity of portfolio investors throughout the quarter, driven mainly by external events.

"While all regional currencies were affected by the continued uncertainty over the timing of US interest rate normalisation, the ringgit and the currencies of other commodity-exporting countries were faced with additional adjustments due to the highly volatile global crude oil prices during the quarter," he said.

Overall, the ringgit depreciated by three per cent against the US dollar during the quarter. The ringgit also depreciated against the euro (-3.9 per cent), the Japanese yen (-4.2 per cent) and the Australian dollar (-5.5 per cent), but appreciated against the pound sterling (0.2 per cent).

The ringgit also depreciated against all regional currencies except the Philippine peso, by between 1.8 per cent and 7.3 per cent.