JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's net gold and foreign exchange reserves were at $44.315 billion in July from $44.828 billion in June, data from the Reserve Bank showed on Thursday.

Gross reserves edged higher to $49.89 billion at the end of the month, from $48.647 billion in June, while the forward position, which represents the bank's unsettled or swap transactions, fell to $2.975 billion from $3.117 billion.

Economists polled by Reuters expected net reserves to come in at $44.645 billion in June.