KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 ― The only contingent short-term net drain on foreign currency assets as at end-February 2022 are government guarantees of foreign currency debt due within one year, amounting to US$401.8 million (RM1.69 billion), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said.
In its detailed disclosure of international reserves as at end-February 2022 released today, BNM said 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.
“BNM also does not engage in foreign currency options vis-à-vis ringgit.
“Overall, the detailed breakdown of international reserves under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) format indicates that as at end-February 2022, Malaysia’s international reserves remain usable,” it said.
For the next 12 months, BNM said 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 US$5.599 billion.
“The short forward positions amounted to US$8.47 billion while long forward positions amounted to US$130 million as at end-February 2022, reflecting the management of ringgit liquidity in the money market,” it said.
In line with the practice adopted since April 2006, BNM said the data excludes projected foreign currency inflows arising from interest income and the drawdown of project loans.
“Projected foreign currency inflows amount to US$2.27 billion in the next 12 months,” it added. ― Bernama
