Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) international reserves improved to US$116.3 billion as at Aug 30, 2021 from US$111.3 billion on Aug 13, 2021.
In a statement today, the central bank said the reserves position was sufficient to finance 8.3 months of retained imports and was 1.3 times total short-term external debt.
"The higher reserves level mainly reflect an additional allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to Malaysia of SDR3.5 billion, equivalent to US$5 billion, by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)."
"The SDR allocation will provide additional liquidity to the global financial system, bolster reserves, build confidence, and enhance the resilience of the world economy," it said.
BNM said the main components of the international reserves were foreign currency reserves (US$103.4 billion), IMF reserves position (US$1.4 billion), SDRs (US$6.1 billion), gold (US$2.2 billion), and other reserve assets (US$3,2 billion).
Assets comprising gold, foreign exchange, and other reserves, including SDRs, amounted to RM483.60 billion, Malaysian government papers (RM11.12 billion), deposits with financial institutions (RM841.62 million), loans and advances (RM21.77 billion), land and buildings (RM4.16 billion), and other assets (RM15.31 billion).
Capital and liabilities comprising paid-up capital amounted to RM100 million, reserves (RM185.35 billion), currency in circulation (RM143.84 billion), deposits by financial institutions (RM143.44 billion), federal government deposits (RM13.43 billion), other deposits (RM8.73 billion), Bank Negara papers (RM7.87 billion), allocation of SDRs (RM28.84 billion), and other liabilities (RM5.2 billion).
Source: Bernama