KUALA LUMPUR, 21 November 2025 — Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) international reserves rose to US$124.1 billion as at 14 November 2025, reaching the country’s highest reserve position in 11 years, according to the central bank’s latest bi-weekly update.
The latest figure is slightly higher than the US$123.8 billion recorded on 31 October 2025, reflecting modest gains in foreign currency assets and valuation adjustments. Reserves are now at their strongest level since 2014.
BNM said the reserve position remains adequate to finance 4.8 months of imports of goods and services, and is sufficient to cover 0.9 times Malaysia’s short-term external debt.
Short-term External Debt Largely from Liquidity Operations and Corporate Borrowings
Short-term external borrowings, defined as external debt with maturities of one year or less, largely consist of:
- foreign currency liquidity operations by resident banks
- borrowings by multinational corporations (including foreign banks) from their overseas parent entities
These obligations are typically met through borrowers’ own external assets and do not place claims on BNM’s reserves.
Foreign Currency Reserves Lead the Gains
Breakdown of BNM’s latest reserve components:
- Foreign currency reserves: US$109.6b (Oct 31: US$109.3b)
- IMF reserve position: US$1.3b (unchanged)
- Special drawing rights (SDRs): US$5.9b (Oct 31: US$6.0b)
- Gold holdings: US$4.8b (unchanged)
- Other reserve assets: US$2.5b (Oct 31: US$2.4b)
The overall reserve level improved following a mild dip from the earlier peak of US$123.6 billion reported on 30 September 2025, which BNM attributed to revaluation and foreign currency adjustments.
