KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 24): Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) international reserves rose by US$1 billion to US$127.9 billion as of Feb 13, 2026, according to the central bank’s latest fortnightly update released on Tuesday.
This latest reserve level surpasses the previous high of US$126.9 billion recorded on Jan 30, 2026, marking the country’s strongest reserves position since 2014.
According to BNM, the current reserve level 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 debts with maturities of one year or less. They largely comprise foreign currency liquidity operations by resident banks, and 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.
From the reserve components, foreign currency rose to US$112 billion as at Feb 13, compared with US$111.3 billion as at Jan 30. While the International Monetary Fund reserves position was unchanged at US$1.3 billion, special drawing rights went up slightly to US$6 billion, from US$5.9 billion previously.
Gold holdings also rose, climbing to US$6.1 billion from US$5.9 billion. Other reserves were unchanged at US$2.5 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.