Statement issued by the South African Reserve Bankon the Gold and Foreign Exchange Reservesof the Bank as at 31 March 1997 1 April 1997 The Bank's provisional gross gold and foreign exchange reserves amounted to R13,1 billion as at 31 March 1997, compared to R12,5 billion as at 28 February 1997. During March the Bank increased its usage of foreign credit lines bringing the total utilised to R2,5 billion. The first of eight quarterly tranches of the International Monetary Fund Compensatory and Contingency Financing Facility amounting to R494 million was repaid during March 1997.Any possible changes to these preliminary figures will be reflected in the Bank's monthly Statement to be published on Monday, 7 April 1997.