In a statement today, the central bank said the reserves position was sufficient to finance 7.5 months of retained imports and was 0.9 times the short-term external debt.

BNM said the short-term external debt was mostly accounted for by banking institutions, reflecting the centralisation of liquidity management of Malaysian banks operating in the region and the sizeable presence of foreign banks in Malaysia.

“These institutions hold substantial external assets, which can be drawn upon to meet their external obligations without creating a claim on BNM’s international reserves,” it said.

The main components of the international reserves comprise foreign currency reserves at US$98.5 billion, International Monetary Fund reserves position (US$900 million), Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) (US$1.2 billion), gold (US$1.5 billion), and other reserve assets (US$2.3 billion).

BNM said assets include gold and foreign exchange, and other reserves including SDRs (RM422.49 billion), Malaysian government papers (RM4.27 billion), deposits with financial institutions (RM237.28 million), loans and advances (RM7.11 billion), land and buildings (RM4.17 billion), and other assets (RM8.09 billion).