Related Articles
Top Stories
May 27 2012 11:21
There's a price war raging between South Africa's cellphone networks after Cell C lowered the rates of its prepaid calls by more than 34%.
May 27 2012 13:09
The oversupply of golf estates has claimed another victim.
May 27 2012 11:49
The country's 200 000-odd Tupperware agents are angry about the counterfeit products being sold as the real McCoy.
Johannesburg - The South African Reserve Bank's (SARB) dollar-denominated holdings of gold and foreign assets fell by $483m to $50.119bn in May from $50.602bn in April, data released by the Reserve Bank on Tuesday shows.
Net reserves fell $175m to $45.864bn from $46.039bn previously.
Foreign exchange reserves were down $427m to $41.102m, while gold reserves fell $8m to $6.169bn.
The SARB reported its special drawing rights (SDRs) holdings - an interest-bearing international asset created by the IMF allocated in terms of a member's quota, which is based on its relative size in the world economy - at $2.849bn from $2.896bn the month before.
The forward position was $4.151bn from $3.940bn in April, while foreign deposits received were at -$8.405bn from -$8.503bn previously, signifying a $98m increase.
The SARB said the decrease in the gross reserves was primarily due to valuation adjustments associated with the appreciation of the US dollar against other major currencies.
The decrease in in the International Liquidity Position by $175m was a result of a decrease in the gross reserves, which was offset by the decline in the foreign currency deposit received and the increase in the forward position, the bank reported.
The latter, it added, mainly reflected foreign exchange purchases which were swapped into the forward market.