The slump of the ringgit to its lowest level in nine years has been blamed on former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s criticisms of the prime minister.

According to Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia ’s weekend edition today, Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan blamed away the ringgit’s plummet to 3.73 against the US dollar this week.

“{…] Issues brought forward by Dr Mahathir and supported by certain groups are said to be the factor contributing to the shrinking of the ringgit of late,” Mingguan Malaysia quoted Ahmad saying.

He was speaking at a village head’s event in Pontian yesterday, pleading for the long serving PM to stop criticising Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Ahmad reiterated Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz’s claim that Malaysia’s economy still rested on “proper foundations based on strong reserves, economic growth, controlled inflation and low unemployment rate”.

He also repeated Najib’s earlier statement that the latter would not resign just because of “one person”, aimed at Mahathir’s up front calls for Najib to quit before he brings Umno-BN down with him.

Critics have blamed the ongoing scandal surrounding Najib’s pet project 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) and its huge debt problem as one of the key reasons for the ringgit’s all time low in the past decade.

Among the critics of the scandal’s impact on the ringgit is notably Najib’s brother and CIMB group chairperson Nazir Razak .