A report by Bank Negra Malaysia, the nation's central bank, states that Malaysia made $2.1 billion "revaluation gain" in 2004, "arising mainly from the depreciation of US dollar against major currencies."
While central banks don't generally release the details of their holdings, it has led to speculation that Malaysia is buying an increasing amount of euros and/or yen these days. "Its central bank sure didn't make that kind of cash holding the dollar," says William Pesek, writing in Bloomberg news, noting that Malaysia's own currency, the ringgit, is currently pegged to the dollar.
According to Pesek:
The plot thickens when you consider how such a shift away from the dollar would jibe not only with comments from top Malaysian officials, but trends throughout Asia.
(more below the jump>
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