Prior to the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis, the Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) was a floating currency that traded at RM2.50  at the dollar. As speculative activities spread across the region, the Ringgit fell to as much as RM4.10 to the dollar  in matter of weeks.

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An executive decision led by the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad decided to peg the MYRto the dollar and  impose capital controls to prevent excessive outflow of the Ringgit in the open market. The Ringgit became was  pegged at RM 3.80 to the US dollar and a traveller had to declare to the central bank if taking out more than  RM10,000 out of the country and the Ringgit it self .

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The fixed exchange rate was abandoned in favor of the floating exchange rate in July 2005, hours after China  announced the same move.

 

[46] At this point, the Ringgit was still not internationalised. The Ringgit continued to strengthen to 3.18 to the  dollar by March 2008 and appreciated as low as 2.94 to the dollar in May 2011.Meanwhile, many aspects of capital  control have been slowly relaxed by Bank Negara Malaysia. However, the government continues to not  internationalise the Ringgit. The government stated that the Ringgit will be internationalised once it is ready.[47]  Bank Negara Malaysia for the timebeing, uses interest rate targeting. The Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) is their  policy instrument,and is used to guide the short term interbank rates which will hopefully influence inflation and  economic growth.