Foreign reserves lower in first half of Dec

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s foreign reserves dropped RM17.6bil in the first half of December, reflecting the heavy outflow of funds from the country’s capital markets during the period.

Bank Negara said international reserves stood at RM394.1bil as at Dec 15, compared with RM411.7bil as at end-November. The central bank, in a statement yesterday, said the reserves were sufficient to finance 7.9 months of retained imports and were 1.1 times the short-term external debt.