In fact, the foreign reserves have been fairly stable at around US$97 billion throughout this year, he explained, clarifying some misrepresentation of facts in a recent news article entitled “Malaysia has to face ringgit volatility”, reported by a local daily.

“While the ringgit has indeed depreciated recently due partly to speculative activities in the offshore market, the depreciation has not, however, led to a material decline in Malaysian foreign reserves,” he said in a statement.

He confirmed that the reserves have actually increased to US$98.3 billion as at Nov 15 from US$97.8 billion recorded at end-October.

“It is important to note that the level of reserves continues to be supported by sustained current account surpluses and inflows of foreign direct investment which provided a buffer against volatility experienced in the financial markets.

“In view of the above facts, the reserves could not possibly have fallen from US$170 billion to US$97 billion due to investors leaving Malaysia, as reported in an article recently,” he said.

Johari pointed out that Malaysia’s highest reserves level was US$141.4 billion as recorded in May 2013 and not US$170 billion as reported.