KUALA LUMPUR (March 6): Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) international reserves rose by US$400 million (RM1.58 billion) to US$128.3 billion as of Feb 27, 2026, according to the central bank’s latest fortnightly update released on Friday.

This latest reserve level surpasses the previous high of US$127.9 billion recorded on Feb 13, 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.

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$112.5 billion as at Feb 27 compared with US$112 billion as at Feb 13.

Its International Monetary Fund reserves position was unchanged at US$1.3 billion, while special drawing rights remained at US$6 billion.

Its gold holdings also stayed flat at US$6.1 billion, as other reserves declined to US$2.4 billion from US$2.5 billion previously.