KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 8): Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) international reserves rose to US$108.6 billion as at Jan 29, 2021, from US$107.8 billion as at Jan 15.

The reserves position is sufficient to finance 8.6 months of retained imports and is 1.2 times total short-term external debt, the central bank said in a statement today.

Of the five components of the international reserves, the largest — foreign currency reserves — rose to US$100.4 billion from US$97.8 billion as recorded two weeks ago, while International Monetary Fund reserves position (US$1.4 billion), Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) (US$1.2 billion) and gold (US$2.4 billion) were unchanged. The last component, other reserve assets, sank to US$3.2 billion from US$5 billion.

The central bank's total assets, meanwhile, stood at RM490.38 billion, as opposed to RM489.18 billion as at Jan 15.