Malaysia's c.bank reserves fall to $94.3 bln as of Jan 13

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Malaysia's central bank

said on Friday that gross international reserves stood at $94.3

billion as of Jan. 13, down from $94.6 billion on Dec. 30.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said reserves were sufficient to

finance 8.7 months of retained imports and were 1.3 times the

short-term external debt.

Malaysia's reserves fell to its lowest in a year at

end-December, matching levels seen in December 2015.

The central bank in November had announced measures to shore

up the ringgit in efforts to stem the currency's slide

against a strengthening U.S. dollar.

The central bank released the following international

reserves data, expressed in billions of dollars:

Jan 13 Dec 30 Dec 15 Nov 30

Total gross 94.3 94.6 96.4 96.4

international reserves

Foreign currency 87.1 87.6 89.0 89.1

reserves

IMF reserves position 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8

SDRs 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1

Gold 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.6

Other reserve assets 3.9 3.7 3.9 3.8

($1 = 4.4430 ringgit)

(Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Sunil Nair)