Bank Negara Malaysia reported that its international reserves stood at USD129.7 billion as at 30 April 2026, a level it said was sufficient to finance 4.7 months of imports of goods and services and equivalent to 0.9 times total short-term external debt. Under the previous import coverage measure, the same reserves level would cover 5.8 months of retained imports of goods. The short-term external debt ratio uses debt data as at 4Q 2025, valued at the 4Q 2025 exchange rate. Bank Negara Malaysia noted that this debt consists mainly of resident banks' foreign currency liquidity operations and multinational corporations' borrowing from overseas parents or headquarters, with these obligations normally met from external asset holdings rather than claims on the central bank's reserves.
Bank Negara Malaysia 2026-05-08
Bank Negara Malaysia reports USD129.7 billion in international reserves with 4.7 months import cover
Bank Negara Malaysia reported that its international reserves stood at USD129.7 billion as at 30 April 2026, sufficient to finance 4.7 months of imports of goods and services and equivalent to 0.9 times total short-term external debt. The central bank noted that short-term external debt, measured using 4Q 2025 data, mainly reflects resident banks’ foreign currency liquidity operations and multinational corporations’ intra-group borrowing, typically serviced from external assets rather than central bank reserves.