KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 22): Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) international reserves rose by US$100 million to US$125.6 billion as at Jan 15, 2026, according to the central bank’s latest update released on Thursday.

The reserve level is a tad above the previous high of US$125.5 billion as at Dec 31, 2025, marking the country’s highest reserves position since 2014.

The reserves position is sufficient to finance 4.7 months of imports and goods and services, and cover 0.9 times the nation’s short-term external debt, BNM said.

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 parents or headquarters.

BNM said these obligations are typically serviced through borrowers’ own external assets in the normal course of business, and therefore do not place claims on the central bank’s reserves.

Breaking down reserves components, foreign currency edged down to US$110.4 billion as at Jan 15, compared with US$110.5 billion as at Dec 31.

The International Monetary Fund reserves position was unchanged at US$1.3 billion, while special drawing rights remained at US$5.9 billion.

Gold holdings rose to US$5.5 billion from US$5.4 billion previously. Other reserves increased to US$2.5 billion from US$2.4 billion.

BNM said the reserves figure has taken into account quarterly foreign exchange revaluation changes.

The central bank releases its international reserves data on a fortnightly basis.