Johannesburg - The South African Reserve Bank’s (Sarb’s)
dollar-denominated holdings of gold and foreign assets rose by $593m to
$49.991bn in August‚ from $49.398bn in July‚ data released by the bank on
Friday showed.
Foreign exchange reserves were up $420m to $40.592bn from
$40.172bn‚ while gold reserves gained $149m to $6.679bn from $6.530bn.
The international liquidity position rose by $304m to
$48.278bn from $47.974bn in July.
At the end of August 2012‚ the gross gold and foreign
exchange reserves and the international liquidity position (ILP) increased by
$593m and $304m to $50.0bn and $48.3 billion‚ respectively.
The Reserve Bank noted that the change in gross reserves
reflected valuation adjustments emanating from a higher US dollar gold price‚
the depreciation of the US dollar against other major currencies‚ and the
settlement of maturing foreign-exchange swaps used to accumulate reserves.
The increase in the ILP reflected the increase in the gross
reserves which was partially offset by the decline in the forward position and
an increase in the foreign currency deposits received‚ the Sarb reported.
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