JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s net foreign reserves rose to $43.091 billion by the end of December from $42.577 billion a month earlier, the country’s central bank said on Tuesday.

Gross reserves rose to $51.641 billion from $50.672 billion over the same period.

The forward position, which represents the central bank’s unsettled or swap transactions, shrunk to $145 million by the end of last month from $1.073 billion at the end of November.

Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Sunil Nair