South Africa's Central Bank Confirms Discussions to Tap Reserves.

South Africa's central bank is in discussions with the National Treasury to tap contingency reserves in order to fund the country's growing budget deficit. The central bank is working with outside advisers to determine the amount, timeline, and cost of the withdrawal. However, the issue is complicated as the profit on the reserves is on paper and selling part of the reserves could unsettle investors. The central bank oversees the Gold & Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account on behalf of the Treasury, and there have been calls to use the account to avoid budget cuts. The Finance Minister has stated that tapping the reserves is being discussed with the central bank. [Extracted from the article]