South Africa will evaluate the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account (GFECRA) held at the central bank annually and withdraw from it when funds are available, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana told Reuters on Thursday.
Godongwana said in his annual budget speech on Wednesday that the government was changing the framework governing the GFECRA account to allow it to draw down R150 billion ($8 billion) over the next three years to limit its borrowing.
South Africa is struggling with an ailing economy and high debt ahead of a general election on May 29 that could see the governing African National Congress party lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid 30 years ago.
Godongwana told Reuters that using the funds to reduce the country’s debt liability was more effective than allocating them to spending.
