Bank Negara Malaysia reports international reserves at USD125.5 billion as at 31 December 2025

Bank Negara Malaysia published updated figures showing its international reserves stood at USD125.5 billion as at 31 December 2025, after taking account of quarterly foreign exchange revaluation changes. The level was reported as 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, reserves would have covered 5.6 months of retained imports of goods. The short-term external debt ratio uses reserves data as at 31 December 2025 and short-term external debt data as at third quarter 2025, with the debt valued using the exchange rate as at third quarter 2025; short-term external debt is defined as borrowing from non-residents with maturity of one year or less and is described as largely related to resident banks’ foreign currency liquidity operations and multinational corporations’ borrowing from overseas parents, which can be met from their external asset holdings rather than drawing on Bank Negara Malaysia’s reserves.