PUTRAJAYA : The depreciation of the ringgit has not led to a decline in Malaysia’s foreign exchange reserves, said Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani.
Johari said Malaysia’s foreign reserves has been fairly stable throughout this year.
“While the ringgit has indeed depreciated in recent period due partly to the speculative activities in the offshore market, the depreciation of ringgit has not, however, led to a material decline in Malaysia’s foreign exchange reserves.
“On the contrary, Malaysia’s foreign reserves has been fairly stable throughout 2016 at around US$97 billion.
“More recently, the reserves has actually increased to US$98.3 billion as of Nov 15, from US$97.8 billion recorded as at Oct 31,” he said in a statement today.
He was commenting in response to a report in newsportal, published on Nov 28, which quoted Johari stating that Malaysia has to face ringgit volatility.
Johari claimed that the report contained some misrepresentation of facts regarding the ringgit and the Malaysian reserves.
“It is important to note that the level of reserves continues to be supported by sustained current account surpluses and inflows of direct foreign investment which provide a buffer against volatility experienced in the financial markets,” he said.
He added that Malaysia’s highest recorded reserves level was US$141.4 billion (recorded in May 2013) and not US$170 billion as reported.