Malaysia adds another US$100 mil to forex shield, pushing it to new decade high.

Malaysia’s international reserves have continued to climb in September, reaching a new 10-year high of US$122.8 billion, according to the latest data from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), boosting the country’s defence against market volatility and external shocks.

The latest figure, as at Sept 12, represents an increase of about US$100 million compared to US$122.7 billion a fortnight ago at end-August. The foreign exchange reserves data is released by the central bank every two weeks.

The reserves are robust enough to finance 4.8 months of imports of goods and services. They are also equivalent to 0.9 times the nation’s short-term external debt, a key indicator of financial stability.

Short-term external debt refers to loans taken from non-residents that are due in one year or less. These borrowings are primarily by resident banks for their foreign currency liquidity needs, as well as by multinational corporations — including foreign banks — borrowing from their overseas parent companies or headquarters.