Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) international reserves rose to US$95.0 billion (equivalent to RM426.0 billion) as at Jan 31, 2017 from US$94.3 billion as at Jan 13, 2017.

The reserves position is sufficient to finance 8.6 months of retained imports and is 1.3 times the short-term external debt, BNM said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur today.

The central bank has built up its reserves over the years since the foreign exchange losses in 1992/1993, as well as the Asian financial crisis in 1998.

In 1992, BNM’s reserve was a mere US$18.1 billion, which gradually increased to US$27.7 billion in 1996 before slipping during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 to US$15.2 billion.

However, BNM managed to firmly increase it to US$101.3 billion in 2007, before declining to US$91.4 billion during the financial crisis in 2008.

In 2009, BNM’s reserves stood at US$96.7 billion, US$106.5 billion (2010), US$133.6 billion (2011), US$139.7 billion (2012), US$134.9 billion (2013), US$116.4 billion (2014), US$95.3 billion (2015), and US$94.6 billion (2016).

All in all, BNM’s reserves position now is far better than it was in 1992 or during the Asian Financial Crisis.

- Bernama