Malaysia's central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said on Wednesday that as of the end of April, the country's international reserves remains usable, citing detailed breakdown of the international reserves under the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (IMF SDDS) formats.
The Star Online reported that according to the IMF SDDS, the detailed breakdown of international reserves showed positive information on the size, composition, and usability of the reserves and other foreign currency assets.
The data also showed the expected and potential inflows and outflows of foreign exchange of the federal government and BNM in the next 12-months.
Based on the SDDS format, the central bank said the official reserve assets stood at US$96.1 billion while other foreign currency assets collectively amounted to US$2.09 billion as of the end of April.
The SDDS format also revealed that for the next 12 months, pre-determined short-term outflows of foreign currency loans will reach up to US$277.9 million.
The amount is contributed by the scheduled repayment of external borrowings by the government.
The short forward position was projected to amount to US$19.1 billion as of the end of April.
In line with the practice adopted since April 2006, BNM said the data excluded projected foreign currency inflows arising from interest income while the reduction of project loans of US$2.23 billion in the next 12-month period.
The extensive breakdown showed that government guarantees of foreign debt amounting to US$130.0 million which is due within one year is the only contingent short-term net drain on foreign currency assets.
"We do not engage in foreign currency options vis-a-vis the ringgit while 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," the central bank added.
