Bank Negara foreign reserves at RM409bil as of end-2015

PETALING JAYA: Bank Negara recorded a slight increase in foreign reserves last year on translation gains following the drop in the ringgit’s value.

In a year which saw the ringgit weakened across the board, the central bank said reserves rose to RM409.1bil as of end-2015 compared with RM405.4bil in the previous year but fell in US dollar terms to US$95.3bil from US$115.9bil.

“The reserves level as at Dec 31, 2015 has taken into account the adjustment for foreign exchange revaluation changes,” it said. The ringgit weakened by about 18% against the US dollar in 2015.

Bank Negara said the level of reserves during 2015 remained supported by the current account surplus and inflows of foreign direct investment in an environment offund outflows. “These outflows reflected the reversal of non-resident portfolio investments due to adverse sentiment arising from the moderating growth momentum in a number of major and emerging economies, the uncertainty surrounding commodity prices as well as the possible disorderly market conditions arising from policy adjustments in major economies,” it said.

The central bank added that continued direct investment abroad by Malaysian companies and the acquisition of foreign portfolio assets by resident institutional investors during the year also contributed to the outflows.

It pointed out the international reserves were ample to facilitate international transactions. As at Dec 31, 2015, the reserves were sufficient to finance 8.5 months of retained imports.