KL reserves up 2.4% to $60.9b

KL reserves up 2.4% to $60.9b

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's foreign-exchange reserves rose to a record in the first two weeks of November as exporters brought home overseas earnings and foreign investors put more money into the stock market.

Reserves rose 2.4 percent to $60.9 billion on Nov. 12, Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank, said in a faxed statement in Kuala Lumpur today. That's 5.6 times the country's short-term external debt and enough to pay for 7.5 months of retained imports, it said.

The increase reflected "the sustained repatriation of export earnings and inflows of portfolio investment," Bank Negara said. Outflows resulted from imports and dividend payments. -- Bloomberg