South Africa’s net foreign reserves rise to $43.4 bln in March

South Africa’s net foreign reserves rose to 43.384 billion dollars in March from 43.272 billion dollars in February, the Reserve Bank said on Monday.

Gross reserves fell to 49.979 billion dollars from 50.051 billion dollars , the central bank data showed.

The forward position, which represents the central bank’s unsettled or swap transactions, fell to 1.996 billion dollars from 2.057 billion dollars .

“The decrease of 72 million dollars in the gross reserves reflects the foreign exchange payments made on behalf of the government.

It was partially offset by the depreciation of the U.S. dollar against most currencies,” the central bank said.(Reuters/NAN)