Gold reserves in South Africa, former top gold producer, and Australia dropped marginally in December.
However, Australia's gross reserves climbed on the last month of last year while South Africa's forex reserves declined during the same period.
According to South African Reserve Bank (SARB) gross reserves fell to $48.86 billion at the end of December from $49.65 billion at the end of November. This was almost in line with economists' expectations of $48.82 billion.
Gold reserves amounted to $6.27 billion compared to $6.9 billion in the previous month. Foreign exchange reserve declined by $132 million from a month earlier to $39.85 billion.
The bank said the decrease in the gross reserves was primarily due to the decline in the gold price which led to a sizeable downward valuation adjustment in gold reserves.
Australia's foreign reserves increased in December, data from the Reserve Bank of Australia showed. Total official reserve assets rose to A$46.08 billion from A$44.83 billion in November.
Foreign exchange totaled A$35.45 billion compared to A$33.66 billion in November. Reserve position in the IMF also increased in December, to A$2.1 billion from A$2.02 billion.
SDRs fell to A$4.54 billion from A$4.67 billion a month ago. At the same time, gold was valued at A$3.98 billion, down from A$4.47 billion in November.
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