KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 22): Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) international reserves added US$200 million to US$124.3 billion as at Dec 15, 2025, according to the central bank’s latest update on Monday. 

The amount is higher than the US$124.1 billion recorded on Nov 28, 2025, making it Malaysia’s strongest reserve level since 2014.

BNM said the reserve position is sufficient to finance 4.8 months of imports of goods and services and cover 0.9 times the nation’s short-term external debt. 

Short-term external borrowings are defined as debts with maturities of one year or less. They largely comprise foreign currency liquidity operations by resident banks, as well as borrowings by multinational corporations — including foreign banks — from their overseas parent entities.

These borrowings are typically serviced through borrowers’ own external assets in the normal course of business, and therefore do not place claims on BNM’s reserves. 

Breaking down the components, foreign currency reserves edged up to US$109.9 billion from US$109.8 billion on Nov 28.

The International Monetary Fund reserve position held steady at US$1.3 billion, while special drawing rights (SDRs) were unchanged at US$5.9 billion. 

Gold holdings also stayed flat at US$4.8 billion. Other reserve assets, however, edged up slightly to US$2.4 billion from US$2.3 billion. 

BNM releases its international reserves data on a fortnightly basis.