Ringgit Posts Third Monthly Loss as 1MDB Scandal Hurts Sentiment

Malaysia’s ringgit dropped for a third month and reached a 16-year low as a political scandal linked to a state investment company weighed on investor sentiment already flagging from a slump in oil.

A multiple probe into the finances of debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Bhd. spurred demand for the relative safety of government bonds, with a Bloomberg index of local securities rising for a seventh month. The ringgit is Asia’s worst-performing currency this year and foreign-exchange reserves have declined to the lowest level since 2009 on suspected central bank intervention to stem the losses.