KUALA LUMPUR (BLOOMBERG) - Malaysia's central bank said it's intervening in the currency market as policy makers across the region contend with exchange-rate volatility.

Fears of capital controls are "baseless" and it's too damaging and risky to have such measures, Bank Negara Malaysia Assistant Governor Adnan Zaylani told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Friday (Nov 18).

He said "yes" when asked whether the central bank was currently intervening in the foreign-exchange market.

The ringgit dropped 0.4 per cent as of 12:55pm to 4.3940 per US dollar, after earlier in the morning sinking as low as 4.4195.