KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)'s foreign reserves rose 0.7% to US$95 billion (RM426 billion) as at Jan 31 compared with US$94.3 billion (RM422.9 billion) on Jan 13.

"The reserves position is sufficient to finance 8.6 months of retained imports and is 1.3 times the short-term external debt," said BNM in a statement today.

Of the reserves, foreign currency made up the chunk at US$88 billion. The rest comprised International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserves at US$800,000, special drawing rights (US$1.1 billion), gold (US$1.4 billion) and other reserve assets (US$3.7 billion).

Total assets as at Jan 31 were RM452.5 billion, while currency in circulation amounted to RM105.2 billion, said the central bank.