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The Reserve Bank of South Africa said on Monday that the country’s gross gold and foreign exchange reserves fell by 0.5 percent to $46.16 billion in July from $46.37 billion reported in the previous month.

The apex bank attributed the decrease in gross reserves to foreign payments made on behalf of the government, foreign exchange swaps conducted for liquidity management purposes, and currency revaluations.

The “international liquidity position” (ILP) or net reserves, however, rose by 0.2 percent to $40.9 billion in July from $40.83 billion in the previous month.

“The increase in the ILP was due to the change in the foreign deposits received and the increase in the forward position, which was significantly offset by the decrease in the gross reserves,” the apex bank said.

The forward position, which represents the apex bank’s outstanding forex forward transactions and forex swaps, rose 6.6 percent to $1.72 billion in July from $1.62 billion recorded in the previous month.

The rand reached a nine-month high of 13.6886 against the dollar last Friday after South Africa’s local government elections result showed that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) had lost several major cities to the opposition Democratic Alliance. The currency traded at 13.6308 against the dollar as at 4.20 GMT on Monday.