8th August 2025 - 2 min read
Malaysia’s international reserves climbed to a new 10-year high of US$121.3 billion (about RM546 billion) at the end of July 2025, according to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). This represents an increase of US$400 million (about RM1.8 billion) compared with the mid-July position.
BNM said the current reserves are sufficient to finance 4.8 months of imports of goods and services and are equivalent to 0.9 times Malaysia’s total short-term external debt.
Short-term external debt refers to borrowings from non-residents that must be repaid within one year. In Malaysia’s case, most of these debts are taken by local banks to meet foreign currency needs, and by multinational companies borrowing from their overseas headquarters. These obligations are typically repaid using the borrowers’ own foreign assets, without tapping into BNM’s reserves.
Breakdown of Reserve Components
Within the total reserves, foreign currency reserves rose to US$107.7 billion (about RM485 billion) from US$107.3 billion (about RM483 billion) in mid-July.
Malaysia’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) remained steady at US$1.3 billion. (about RM5.85 billion). Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), which are reserve assets provided by the IMF and valued based on a mix of major global currencies, remained unchanged at US$5.9 billion (about RM26.55 billion).
The central bank’s gold holdings were unchanged at US$4.1 billion (about RM18.45 billion), while other reserve assets held steady at US$2.3 billion (about RM10.35 billion).
BNM’s latest data reflects a stable and well-managed external reserves position, supported by steady reserve components and an adequate buffer for Malaysia’s trade and debt obligations.
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Samuel writes about personal finance and financial news, focusing on how banking updates, policies, and promotions affect everyday money decisions. He enjoys making complicated financial topics easier to follow. Outside of writing, he spends his time watching TV shows and occasionally convincing himself he will only watch one episode.
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