JOHANNESBURG (Commodity Online): Gold and foreign exchange reserves in South Africa have declined marginally for the month of February, said a statement from the South Africa Reserve Bank (SARB) on Friday.

It said net gold and foreign exchange reserves declined to US38.281 billion in February from US38.630 billion in January.

Gross reserves came in at US39.439 billion for February from US39.489 billion the previous month, the SARB added.

Gold reserves rose by US99 million to US4.453 billion while currency reserves fell US100 million to US32.251 billion, the SARB said.

According to RMB currency strategists, reserve figures suggested that the SARB remained relatively dormant in February despite increased rand volatility.

The marginal decline in net reserves is broadly in line with our expectations of a minimal change in reserves, RMB said.

The fall could mainly be attributed to a US100 million reduction in forex reserves owing to revaluation effects associated with a stronger US dollar and a significantly weaker euro.

This possibly overshadowed any modest accumulation by the SARB last month as well as a 2.9 percent increase in the price of gold, which contributed roughly US100 million to gross reserves, SRMB said.

South Africa South African Reserve Bank Gold Fall