Bank Negara international reserves higher at US$115.4b on Feb 15

KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) international reserves rose to US$115.4 billion (RM552.7 billion) as at Feb 15, 2024, from US$114.8 billion as at Jan 31, 2024.

In a statement today, the central bank said the reserves position was sufficient to finance 5.5 months of imports of goods and services, and was 1.0 time the total short-term external debt.

The main components of the reserves were foreign currency reserves which stood at US$102.9 billion, followed by International Monetary Fund reserves (US$1.4 billion), special drawing rights (SDR) (US$5.8 billion), gold (US$2.6 billion), and other reserve assets (US$2.7 billion).

Total assets stood at RM634.18 billion, comprising gold and foreign exchange and other reserves, including SDR (RM529.72 billion), Malaysian government papers (RM13 billion), deposits with financial institutions (RM1.31 billion), loans and advances (RM24.48 billion), land and buildings (RM4.13 billion) and other assets (RM61.53 billion).

BNM said capital and liabilities comprised paid-up capital (RM100 million), reserves (RM186.31 billion), currency in circulation (RM169.88 billion), deposits by financial institutions (RM156.39 billion), federal government (RM18.26 billion) and others (RM39.57 billion), Bank Negara papers (RM30.71 billion), allocation of SDR (RM29.74 billion), and others (RM3.24 billion). – Bernama