BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BOARD RESOLUTION NO. 023/2024

SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT – APPROVE THE EXIT OF GOLD ACQUIRED IN THE DOMESTIC MARKET FROM THE NATIONAL CUSTOMS TERRITORY.

VIEWED:

• The Political Constitution of the State (CPE) of February 7, 2009.
• Law No. 1670 of October 31, 1995, of the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB).
• Law No. 1503 of May 5, 2023, Law on the Purchase of Gold Intended for the Strengthening of International Reserves.
• Supreme Decree No. 25870 of August 11, 2000, of the Regulation to the General Customs Law and its modifications.
• The Statute of the BCB approved by Board Resolution No. 095/2022 of October 6, 2022.
• The Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves approved by Board Resolution No. 071/2023 of May 9, 2023, and its modifications.
• The Regulation on the Purchase of Gold in the Domestic Market Intended for the Strengthening of International Reserves, approved by Board Resolution No. 096/2023 of July 3, 2023, and its modifications.
• The Report from the International Operations Management BCB-GOI-SRES-DNI-INF-2024-14 dated February 19, 2024.
• The Report from the Legal Affairs Management BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2024-50 dated February 19, 2024.

CONSIDERING:

That Article 328 of the Political Constitution of the State establishes, as one of the attributions of the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB), in coordination with the economic policy determined by the Executive Branch, the administration of international reserves.

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That Article 1 of Law No. 1670 establishes that the BCB is a state institution, of public law, of an autarkic nature, of indefinite duration, with its own legal personality and assets, and with its legal domicile in the city of La Paz. It is the sole monetary and exchange authority of the country, with administrative, technical, and financial competence and specialized normative faculties of general application.

That Article 14 of Law No. 1670 establishes that the BCB will ensure the strengthening of International Reserves so that they allow the normal functioning of Bolivia's international payments.

That Article 15 of Law No. 1670 provides that the International Reserves of the BCB are constituted, among others, by physical gold.

That Article 17 of Law No. 1670 establishes that International Reserves are immune from seizure and cannot be subject to precautionary, administrative, or judicial measures. Nor can they be subject to any state tax or contribution.

That Article 44 of Law No. 1670 establishes that the highest authority of the BCB is its Board of Directors, which is responsible for defining its policies, specialized norms of general application, and internal rules; as well as for establishing the BCB's administrative, operational, and financial strategies, approving their respective short and medium-term programs.

That subsections a) and o) of Article 54 of Law No. 1670 provide that the BCB Board of Directors has the attributions to issue norms and adopt general decisions that are necessary for the BCB to fulfill the functions, competencies, and faculties assigned to it by Law; as well as to approve, modify, and interpret the Statute and Regulations of the BCB, by two-thirds of the votes of all its members, without the need for any additional administrative act.

That Article 1 of Law No. 1503 authorizes the BCB to purchase gold from the domestic market for the strengthening of International Reserves and to carry out financial operations with International Reserves in gold in international markets.

Article 9 of Law No. 1503 establishes that the BCB will carry out operations in international markets with reserves in gold, being able to buy, invest, deposit in custody,

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use in hedging instruments, transform and convert them into foreign currency, in order to optimize the liquidity and/or return of International Reserves.

That the Sole Final Provision of Law No. 1503 states that within the framework of Articles 327 and 328 of the CPE, the BCB, with the objective of complying with its constitutional mandate, is empowered to apply what is provided in Law No. 1670, of October 31, 1995, of the BCB and its modifications, being this sufficient for the development of its functions, without requiring further provisions from said law.

That Article 185 of Supreme Decree No. 25870 of August 11, 2000, of the Regulation to the General Customs Law and its modifications establishes that the exit from the national customs territory of international reserves, composed of convertible currencies and gold, by virtue of operations carried out by the BCB with international financial organizations and other institutions abroad, derived from its functions as a central bank or that are carried out to facilitate payment and credit operations, must be carried out in accordance with applicable legal provisions and prior presentation of the Resolution of the Ministry currently Ministry of Economy and Public Finance that authorizes such operation.

That subsections 1) and 3) of Article 5 of the Statute of the BCB provide that its Board of Directors has normative competence to issue specialized norms in the fields assigned by Law and technical competence for the formulation of policies and the application of instruments that allow it to fulfill its object.

That subsections 1) and 6) of Article 10 of the Statute of the BCB provide that the Board of Directors has the attributions to approve general decisions and issue the norms that are necessary for the BCB to fulfill the functions, competencies, and faculties assigned to it by Law, approve the policy and norms for the administration of International Reserves, as well as to carry out follow-up of their execution.

That paragraph I of Article 24 of said norm provides that resolutions and decisions of the Board of Directors are adopted by a simple majority of votes of its members present in a meeting, except in cases where Law No. 1670 or the Statute of the BCB require qualified majorities.

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That Article 26 of the Statute of the BCB stipulates that the Board of Directors pronounces itself on matters within its competence through Resolutions. It may also do so through decisions that will be expressly recorded in the Minutes. Likewise, any draft Board Resolution must be motivated and justified by a technical report from the Management or Managements to whom the subject matter of the Resolution corresponds and by a report from the Legal Affairs Management. These reports must be sent to the Board of Directors by the General Management with its recommendation.

Subsection 5) of Article 6 of the Regulation of the International Reserves Committee establishes, among others, as a Function of the Committee, to propose the treatment that will be applied to International Reserve investments in case of immediate liquidity requirement, to recommend to the BCB.

That the Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves has the object of establishing the guidelines and general norms for the administration, evaluation, and control of the International Reserves of the BCB and states, in its Article 11 paragraph VI, that the exit from the national customs territory of locally purchased gold, to carry out investment operations, will be approved by Board Resolution.

That Article 18 of the Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves establishes, among other authorized investment operations, the sale of gold acquired in the domestic market and defines, in its article 23 paragraph VIII, that for gold operations, financial entities must be members of the London Bullion Market Association.

That the Regulation on the Purchase of Gold Intended for the Strengthening of International Reserves regulates and establishes the mechanisms and formalities for the purchase of gold in the domestic market.

That the Report from the International Operations Management BCB-GOI-SRES-DNI-INF-2024-14 recommends to the Board of Directors of the BCB to approve the exit from the national customs territory of 556 gold bars acquired in the domestic market with an approximate weight of 4.91 tons, of which it is estimated that 4.66 tons of fine gold are destined for Italy, to carry out investment operations, in accordance with what is established in the Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves.

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That the Report from the Legal Affairs Management BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2024-50 concludes that the approval of the exit from the national customs territory of 556 gold bars acquired in the domestic market with an approximate weight of 4.91 tons, of which it is estimated that 4.66 tons of fine gold are destined for Italy, to carry out investment operations, in accordance with what is established in the Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves, is legally appropriate, as it does not contravene any norm, recommending to the Board of Directors of the BCB its approval.

THEREFORE,

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF BOLIVIA

RESOLVES:

Article 1.- Approve the exit from the national customs territory of 556 gold bars acquired in the domestic market with an approximate weight of 4.91 tons, of which it is estimated that 4.66 tons of fine gold are destined for Italy, to carry out investment operations, in accordance with what is established in the Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves.

Article 2.- The International Operations Management is tasked with processing the Ministerial Resolution that authorizes the exit of the gold from the national customs territory before the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance.

Article 3.- The Presidency and the General Management are tasked with the compliance of this Resolution.

La Paz, February 20, 2024

SIGNED. ROGER EDWIN ROJAS ULO, Oscar Ferrufino Morro, Gabriel Herbas Camacho, Gumerindo Héctor Pino Guzmán, Diego Alejandro Perez Cueto Eulert