10 Oct.
SARB: Gold, foreign currency reserves dip 3.4%.
Bloomberg.
South African gold and foreign currency reserves fell 3.4 percent in September, the biggest decline in almost three years, as bullion slumped and a stronger dollar cut the value of holdings of euros and pounds.
Gross reserves dropped to $49.7 billion (R397bn), the Reserve Bank said on Friday, lower than the $51bn median estimate of nine economists. Net reserves fell to $47.9bn from $49.1bn in August.
“A lower US dollar gold price at month-end resulted in a significant decrease in the value of gold reserves, while the appreciation of the US dollar against other major currencies led to a sizable downward valuation adjustment in foreign exchange reserves,” the Reserve Bank said.
Gold dropped 11 percent in September even as concern mounted that the global economy may fall into recession because of weakening demand in the US and a debt crisis in Europe. The Reserve Bank may slow the pace of dollar purchases as a sell-off in global financial markets caused the rand to slump the most in three years last month.
Source: Business Report
Download the Information notice on the official gold and foreign exchange reserves of the South African Reserve Bank as at 30 September 2011.
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