South Africa’s gross gold and foreign exchange reserves increased to $69.2bn in July from $68.4bn in June. Conversely, net reserves marked a slight decrease, to $65.1bn in July from $65.2bn in June.

According to the SARB, the uptick in gross reserves was mainly due to receiving a $1.5bn World Bank loan on behalf of the government and the +0.7% increase in the USD price of gold in July.

These factors offset factors that weighed on reserve valuations in July, namely an appreciation in the USD (+2.3% against the USD and +3.4% against the GBP) and a $525.5mn IMF loan repayment made on behalf of the government.