KUALA LUMPUR (May 11): The central bank’s international reserves increased by RM1 billion to RM392.4 billion on April 30, 2015, as compared to RM391.4 billion at April 15, 2015 — the first increment after five consecutive months of decline.
In a statement, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said the reserves are sufficient to finance eight months of retained imports and is 1.1 times the short-term external debt.
BNM’s international reserves had declined in the past few months, mainly due to large outflow of foreign funds. This in turn has put pressure on the local currency.
As at 6pm today, the US dollar had strengthened against the ringgit by 0.09% to 3.6018.