Bank Negara Malaysia reported that its international reserves stood at USD 130.6 billion as at 29 May 2026. The reserves position was sufficient to finance 4.6 months of imports of goods and services and was equivalent to 0.9 times total short-term external debt. Under the previous import coverage measure, the same reserves level would cover 6.0 months of retained imports of goods. The short-term external debt ratio combines reserve data as at 29 May 2026 with short-term external debt data as at the first quarter of 2026, valued using the exchange rate at the first quarter of 2026. Bank Negara Malaysia said this debt consists of borrowing from non-residents with a maturity of one year or less, mostly by resident banks for foreign currency liquidity operations and by multinational corporations, including foreign banks, borrowing from overseas parents or headquarters, and that these obligations can be met from external asset holdings without claims on the central bank's reserves.
Bank Negara Malaysia2026-06-09
Bank Negara Malaysia reports USD 130.6 billion in reserves covering 4.6 months of imports and 0.9 times short term external debt
Bank Negara Malaysia reported international reserves of USD 130.6 billion as at 29 May 2026, sufficient to finance 4.6 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 cover 6.0 months of retained imports of goods, and most short-term external debt reflects resident banks’ foreign currency liquidity operations and multinational corporations’ borrowing from overseas parents, which can be met from external asset holdings.