ZCZC
MALAYSIA-FOREIGN-RESERVE
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 22, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Malaysian central bank, Bank
Negara, said on Friday that its international reserves stood at 103.9 billion
U.S. dollars as of Sept. 14.
The reserves were 500 million U.S. dollars lower when compared with the
104.4 billion U.S. dollars as of Aug. 30.
The lower reserves level largely reflects portfolio outflows, as
experienced in the region, the bank said in a statement.
The reserves position is sufficient to finance 8.1 months of retained
imports and is 0.9 times the short-term external debt, according to the
statement.
The short-term external debt is mostly accounted by banking institutions,
which is 69.3 percent of short-term external debt, reflecting the
centralization of liquidity management of Malaysian banks operating in the
region and the sizeable presence of foreign banks in Malaysia, the statement
said.
These institutions hold substantial external assets, which can be drawn
upon to meet their external obligations without creating a claim on Bank
Negara Malaysia’s international reserves, it added.
The international reserves consisted of 97.8 billion U.S. dollars in
foreign currency reserves, 900 million U.S. dollars in International Monetary
Fund Reserves Position, 1.1 billion U.S. dollars in Special Drawing Rights,
1.6 billion U.S. dollars in gold and 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in other
reserves assets.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1120