SA’s foreign-exchange reserves fell 0.8% to $43bn in June from $43.4bn in May, the Reserve Bank said in its monthly report released on Friday morning. Credit ratings agency Moody’s issued an analyst report on Tuesday forecasting that the Reserve Bank’s foreign-exchange reserves would decline to about $38bn by the end of 2018. A lower gold price saw the value of the bullion the Reserve Bank holds fall nearly 4% to $5bn from $5.2bn, contributing to the Reserve Bank’s gross reserves declining 1.1% to $50.6bn. The average gold price fell 3.9% from $1,301.49/oz in May to $1,250.67/oz in June, the Reserve Bank said. "The decrease of $564m in the gross reserves reflects the decline in the dollar gold price, foreign-exchange payments made on behalf of the government and the appreciation of the dollar against most currencies, which was partially offset by the matured foreign-exchange swaps conducted for liquidity management purposes," the report said. The rand averaged R13.7682 to the dollar...
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