KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) international reserves rose 0.18% to US$109.2 billion as at March 15, 2021 from US$109 billion as at Feb 28, 2021.

“The reserves position is sufficient to finance 8.5% of retained imports and is 1.2 times total short-term external debt,” said the central bank in a statement.

Other reserve assets rose to US$4.5 billion from US$3.3 billion, while foreign currency reserves fell to US$99.6 billion from US$100.6 billion.

However, BNM’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserves position, special drawing rights, and gold remain unchanged at US$1.5 billion, US$1.2 billion, and US$2.4 billion respectively.

Total assets rose 0.17% to RM492.02 billion from RM491.19 billion.