Bank Negara forex reserves slip on capital outflow

AmBank Research expects Bank Negara Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: The international reserves of Bank Negara amounted to US$103.9bil as at September 14, 2018, down from two weeks ago.

The international reserves stood at US$104.4bil as at August 30, 2018.

In a statement, Bank Negara said the lower reserves level largely reflects portfolio outflows, as experienced in the region.

It said the reserves position was sufficient to finance 8.1 months of retained imports and was 0.9 times the short-term external debt.

The short-term external debt, it said, was mostly accounted by banking institutions (69.3% of short-term external debt), reflecting the centralisation of liquidity management of Malaysian banks operating in the region and the sizeable presence of foreign banks in Malaysia.

“These institutions hold substantial external assets (RM293bil), which can be drawn upon to meet their external obligations without creating a claim on Bank Negara’s international reserves,” it said.