Bank Negara has published a detailed breakdown of the country’s international reserves providing forward-looking information on the size, composition, and usability of reserves and other foreign currency assets, and the expected and potential future inflows and outflows of foreign exchange of the Federal Government and the Central Bank over the next 12-month period.
The detailed breakdown of international reserves based on the SDDS format shows the official reserve assets amounted to USD115,762.2 million, while other foreign currency assets amounted to USD133.8 million as of end-February 2022. The pre-determined short-term outflows of foreign currency loans, securities and deposits, which include among others, scheduled repayment of external borrowings by the Government and the maturity of foreign currency Bank Negara Interbank Bills, amounted to USD5,599.4 million.
The short forward positions amounted to USD8,473.1 million while long forward positions amounted to USD130 million as of end-February 2022, reflecting the management of ringgit liquidity in the money market. In line with the practice adopted since April 2006, the data excludes projected foreign currency inflows arising from interest income and the drawdown of project loans. Projected foreign currency inflows amount to USD2,271.2 million in the next 12 months. The only contingent short-term net drain on foreign currency assets are Government guarantees of foreign currency debt due within one year, amounting to USD401.8 million. There are no foreign currency loans with embedded options, no undrawn, unconditional credit lines provided by or to other central banks, international organisations, banks, and other financial institutions. Bank Negara Malaysia also does not engage in foreign currency options vis-à-vis ringgit.
Overall, the detailed breakdown of international reserves under the IMF SDDS format indicates that as of end-February 2022, Malaysia’s international reserves remain usable.
