Foreign reserves of Malaysia, Indonesia plunge in March

Malaysia's central bank, Bank Negara, said on April 7 that its international reserves stood at US$101.7 billion as of March 31, down 1.26 percent from March 13.
Illustrative image (Photo: theedgemarkets.com)
Illustrative image (Photo: theedgemarkets.com)
The bank said in a statement that the reserves position is sufficient to finance 7.7 months of retained imports and is 1.1 times total short-term external debt.
The same day, the Bank Indonesia (BI) said its foreign exchange reserves also dropped in March as the bank has intensified intervention in the financial market to shore up the rupiah.
The reserves decreased to US$121 billion in March from $130.4 billion in February.
The BI said the shrinkage is factored by the payment of foreign debts and stabilisation of the rupiah amid an extraordinary situation due to the panic in the financial market because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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