SA's net reserves boosted by IMF allocation

Monday, 07 September 2009 -- Reuters

South Africa's net gold and foreign exchange reserves jumped 6.49 percent to $36.922 billion at the end of August from $34.67 billion in July, official data showed on Monday.

"The change in gold and foreign exchange reserves was mainly due to the general allocation of US$2,166 billion from the IMF, foreign exchange operations of the Bank and valuation adjustments," the Reserve Bank said in a statement.

Gross reserves stood at $37.953 billion in August from $35.747 billion, the central bank said in a statement posted on its Web site.

Net foreign currency holdings leapt $2.158 billion to $34.156 billion, while gold reserves were up by $48 million to $3.798 billion.

The IMF funds were part of global programme for a special drawing rights' (SDR) equivalent of $250 billion to help member countries deal with the world financial crisis.

"It is allocated in terms of a member's quota which is based on its relative size in the world economy. South Africa's quota is currently SDR1,868 billion."