No plan to review use of Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account

1st November 2023

By: Terence Creamer

Creamer Media Editor

     

Font size: - +

The National Treasury has confirmed that there is no immediate plan for a review of the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account (GFECRA), which some economists have argued should be drawn on to help narrow the gap between revenue and expenditure.

The GFECRA reserves are said to stand at about R450-billion currently.

Ahead of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, South African Reserve Bank deputy governor Rashad Cassim, noted that GFECRA gains were unrealised and subject to rapid shifts depending on exchange rate movements.

Dipping into the account was also not cost-free, as distributing profits without selling foreign exchange reserves would entail monetisation of the balances, which implied liquidity management costs for the Bank. 

“It is important to emphasise that the GFECRA balances are not a windfall that can be enjoyed with no further costs,” Cassim told the Business Times.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION