Malaysia's Reserves Remain Usable, Says Central Bank

KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's reserves remained usable as at end-February 2016, based on the detailed breakdown of international reserves under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) format. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM or Malaysia's Central Bank) said in a statement that official reserve assets amounted to US$95.631 billion at end-February, while other foreign currency assets stood at US$1.41 billion (US$1 = RM3.925). For the next 12 months, it said the pre-determined short-term outflow of foreign currency loans would amount to US$1.409 billion arising from scheduled repayments of external borrowings by the government. The bulk of this repayment reflects the maturing of Wakala Global Sukuk (US$1.2 billion) in July 2016, the central bank said. Meanwhile, the data excludes projected foreign currency inflows of US$2.273 billion, arising from interest income and the drawdown of project loans in the next 12 months. BNM said the only contingent short-term net drain on foreign currency assets would be government guarantees of foreign debt, due within one year, amounting to US$1.101 billion. The bulk of the guarantee is on a public enterprise's offshore bond (US$1.0 billion) maturing in March 2016, it said. --BERNAMA