SA’s gross reserves amounted to $50.7bn in December, an 0.84% increase from November’s $50.3bn, the South African Reserve Bank reported on Monday morning. According to Trading Economics, the economists’ consensus was that gross reserves would decline to $48.8bn, although the actual figure came in under its forecast of $51.1bn. Gross reserves in SA "averaged $28.9bn from 1998 until 2017, reaching an all-time high of $51.9bn in February of 2012 and a record low of $5.3bn in September of 1998", Trading economics said. The Reserve Bank defines gross reserves as foreign exchange reserves including foreign currency deposits received, gold reserves, and special drawing rights (SDR) held. Foreign exchange reserves make up 85% of SA’s gross reserves, and grew 0.81% to $43bn. Gold made up 10% of December’s gross reserves, growing 1.26% to $5.2bn. SDRs made up 5% of the total, growing 0.63% to $2.5bn. "The increase of $425m in the gross reserves reflects the matured foreign exchange swaps cond...
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