Ringgit Depreciation Has Not Led To Material Decline In Foreign Reserves

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 30 (Bernama) -- The depreciation of the ringgit has not led to a material decline in Malaysia’s foreign exchange reserves, says Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani Wednesday. In fact, the foreign reserves have been fairly stable at around US$97 billion throughout this year, he explained, clarifying some misrepresentation of facts in a recent news article entitled, "Malaysia has to face ringgit volatility", reported by an online newspaper. "Whilst the ringgit has indeed depreciated in recent period due partly to speculative activities in the offshore market, the depreciation has not, however, led to a material decline in Malaysian foreign reserves," he said in a statement. He confirmed that the reserves have actually increased to US$98.3 billion as at Nov 15 from US$97.8 billion recorded at end-October. "It is important to note that the level of reserves continue to be supported by sustained current account surpluses and inflows of foreign direct investment which provided buffer against volatility experienced in the financial markets. "In view of the above facts, the reserves could not possibly have fallen from US$170 billion to US$97 billion due to investors leaving Malaysia as reported in an article recently,” he said. Johari pointed out that Malaysia's highest reserves level was US$141.4 billion as recorded in May 2013 and not US$170 billion as reported. -- BERNAMA