Malaysia's international reserves fell US$4.7 billion (RM16.8 billion) in the last two weeks of 2014 as its ringgit currency slid against the dollar, on its way to a five-and-a-half year low struck earlier this week.

The South-East Asian oil and gas producer was hit hard by the fall in global oil prices, and its currency was the second-worst performing currency in emerging Asia last year.

The ringgit has remained under pressure and closed at 3.5650 to the dollar today, having depreciated some 11.6 percent since September, when its decline began to accelerate.

Bank Negara Malaysia said the outflows in the last two weeks of December were "mainly in the form of reversal of non-resident portfolio investment, direct investment abroad by Malaysian companies, acquisition of foreign portfolio assets by residential institutional investors and net repayment of offshore borrowing by the public sector".

The central bank said that the reserves at the end of last year were sufficient to finance 8.4 months of retained imports and were equivalent to 1.1 times the country's short-term external debt.

"In 2014, international reserves were supported by a higher current account surplus and inflows of foreign direct investment," Bank Negara said.

To stem capital outflows by government-linked entities, the finance ministry issued a circular advising its affiliated firms to temporarily halt purchases of foreign assets.

While reserves fell sharply in dollar terms, in local currency terms reserves increased to RM405.5 billion by Dec 31 from RM394.1 billion two weeks earlier.

- Reuters