KUALA LUMPUR (July 7): Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) international reserves as at June 30 amounted to RM398.1 billion (US$105.5 billion), which is 0.96% or RM3.8 billion higher than RM394.3 billion as at May 29.

In its statement today, the central bank said the reserves' position is sufficient to finance 8.2 months of retained imports and is 1.1 times the short-term external debt.

Foreign currency reserves make up US$96.9 billion or 91.8% of total international reserves.

BNM’s international reserves has fell to RM390.2 billion in mid-June, from RM394.3 billion on May 29, mainly due to large outflow of foreign funds, putting pressure on the local currency.

As at 6.30pm today, the ringgit has regained some strength to 3.8073 against the US dollar compared with 3.8092 yesterday.