2025-08-11 | RESOLUCIÓN DE DIRECTORIO N° 103/2025

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Board Resolution No. 103/2025

The Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Bolivia authorizes the export of 204 gold bars, weighing approximately 1.91 tons (with an estimated 1.78 tons of fine gold), acquired in the domestic market to the United Arab Emirates for investment operations. The resolution permits the refinement of this gold abroad to obtain London Good Delivery bars and authorizes subsequent international financial transactions, including investment, custody, and currency conversion, to optimize reserve liquidity and returns. The International Operations Department is tasked with obtaining the necessary ministerial authorization from the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance to facilitate the exit from the national customs territory.

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BOARD RESOLUTION NO. 103/2025

SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT – APPROVAL OF THE EXIT FROM THE NATIONAL CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF GOLD ACQUIRED IN THE DOMESTIC MARKET

VIEWED:

  • The Political Constitution of the State of February 7, 2009 (CPE).
  • Law No. 1670 of October 31, 1995 of the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) and its modifications.
  • Law No. 1503 of May 5, 2023 on the Purchase of Gold Intended for the Strengthening of International Reserves.
  • Supreme Decree No. 25870 of August 11, 2000 on the Regulation of 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 of the International Reserves Committee approved by Board Resolution No. 017/2023 of January 25, 2023.
  • 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, within the framework of Law No. 1503 of May 5, 2023, approved by Board Resolution No. 066/2024 of May 28, 2024 and its modifications.
  • The report BCB-GOI-SRES-DNI-INF-2025-60 of July 31, 2025, issued by the International Operations Department (GOI).
  • The report BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2025-263 of August 1, 2025, issued by the Legal Affairs Department (GAL).

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CONSIDERING:

That Articles 327 and 328 of the CPE determine that the BCB is a public law institution, with legal personality and its own assets, which, within the framework of the State's economic policy, has the function of maintaining the stability of the internal purchasing power of the currency, to contribute to economic and social development, its attribution being, in coordination with the economic policy determined by the Executive Branch, to administer the International Reserves.

That Article 1 of Law No. 1670, modified by Article 64, section A3, numeral 1) of Law No. 1864 of June 15, 1998 on Property and Popular Credit, 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 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 regulatory powers of general application.

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

That Article 15 of Law No. 1670 provides that the BCB's International Reserves consist, among other things, of physical gold.

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 regulations of general application, and internal rules; as well as establishing the BCB's administrative, operational, and financial strategies, approving their respective short and medium-term programs. For the monitoring and oversight of their execution, it will have access to independent information, analysis, and audit services.

That subsections a) and c) of Article 54 of Law No. 1670 indicate the following attributions of the Board of Directors: Issue the rules and adopt the general decisions that are necessary for the BCB to fulfill the functions, competencies, and powers assigned to it by the Law and carry out the monitoring of the execution of monetary, exchange, credit, financial intermediation, international reserves administration, and other policies and regulations corresponding to the BCB in accordance with Law No. 1670.

That Article 1 of Law No. 1503 aims to authorize the BCB to Purchase Gold


//3. B.R. No. 103/2025

from the Domestic Market for the Strengthening of International Reserves and to carry out financial operations with International Reserves in gold in international markets.

That Paragraph I of Article 7 of Law No. 1503 provides that once the gold purchase process is concluded and total settlement has been made in the domestic market, the BCB may refine the gold abroad to obtain the quality of Good Delivery bars and, in accordance with regulations, regulate the exit from the national customs territory.

That Paragraph I of Article 9 of the aforementioned Law No. 1503 establishes that the BCB will carry out operations in international markets with gold reserves, being able to buy, invest, deposit in custody, use in hedging instruments, transform, and convert them into foreign currency, in order to optimize the liquidity and/or return of International Reserves.

That Article 185 of Supreme Decree No. 25870 of August 11, 2000, which approves the Regulation of 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 central banking functions 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 the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance) that authorizes such operation.

That subsections 1) and 3) of Article 5 of the BCB Statute provide that its Board of Directors has regulatory competence to issue specialized rules 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 purpose.

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

That Paragraph I of Article 24 of said norm provides that the Resolutions and decisions of the Board of Directors are adopted by a simple majority of votes of its members present in


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meeting, except in cases where Law No. 1670 or the BCB Statute require qualified majorities.

That Article 26 of the BCB Statute 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 Department or Departments to which the matter subject to the Resolution corresponds and by a report from the Legal Affairs Department. These reports must be sent to the Board of Directors by the General Management with its recommendation.

That 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 Paragraph VI of Article 11 and Paragraph I of Article 18 of the Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves establish that the exit from the national customs territory of gold purchased locally to carry out investment operations will be approved by Board Resolution, establishing as an authorized investment operation the purchase of gold.

That Article 25 of the Regulation on the Purchase of Gold in the Domestic Market Intended for the Strengthening of International Reserves, within the framework of Law No. 1503 of May 5, 2023, provides that the exit of gold from the national customs territory for the purpose of refinement abroad will be approved by Board Resolution.

That the report BCB-GOI-SRES-DNI-INF-2025-60 concludes that with the objective of optimizing the composition of Gold Reserves, it is necessary to carry out investment operations with bars described in Annex No. 1 and Annex 2 to obtain London Good Delivery bars, which will be deposited in the BCB's gold accounts in London. With the London Good Delivery bars, the GOI can improve the returns of International Reserves through international financial operations with gold reserves, being able, among other things, to invest, deposit, and convert gold into foreign currency. The GOI plans to carry out investment operations with STONEX, a company that will deposit the London Good Delivery bars produced in the BCB's gold accounts in London. For the foregoing, it corresponds to the Board of Directors of the BCB to approve the exit from the national customs territory of 204 gold bars acquired in the domestic market with an


//5. B.R. No. 103/2025

approximate weight of 1.91 tons, of which an estimated 1.78 tons are fine gold, destined for the United Arab Emirates to carry out investment operations.

That the report BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2025-263 concludes on the viability of approving the exit from the national customs territory of 204 gold bars acquired in the domestic market with an approximate weight of 1.91 tons, of which an estimated 1.78 tons are fine gold, destined for the United Arab Emirates to carry out investment operations, which does not violate current regulations and is consistent with Law No. 1503 on the Purchase of Gold Intended for the Strengthening of International Reserves, the Regulation on the Purchase of Gold in the Domestic Market Intended for the Strengthening of International Reserves, within the framework of Law No. 1503 of May 5, 2023, and the Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves is legally procedable, being viable for approval by the Board of Directors of the BCB in accordance with what is established in Articles 44 and 54 subsections a) and c) of Law No. 1670 and subsections 1) and 6) of Article 10, in addition to in accordance with Paragraph I of Article 24 and Article 26 of the BCB Statute, as it does not contravene any legal provision and falls within the attributions of the BCB.

THEREFORE,

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF BOLIVIA

RESOLVES:

Article 1.- Approve the exit from the national customs territory of 204 gold bars acquired in the domestic market with an approximate weight of 1.91 tons, of which an estimated 1.78 tons are fine gold, destined for the United Arab Emirates to carry out investment operations.

Article 2.- Authorize the investment operations of the gold resulting from the investment operation indicated in the preceding Article, in accordance with what is established in the Regulation for the Administration of International Reserves.

Article 3.- In accordance with Article 26 of the Regulation on the Purchase of Gold in the Domestic Market Intended for the Strengthening of International Reserves, within the framework of Law No. 1503 of May 5, 2023, the International Operations Department will process the Ministerial Resolution that authorizes the exit of gold from the national customs territory before the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance.

Article 4.- This Resolution will enter into force from the date of its approval.


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Article 5.- The Presidency and the General Management are charged with the execution and compliance of this Resolution.

La Paz, August 12, 2025

SIGNED. ROGER EDWIN ROJAS ULO, Gumercindo Héctor Pino Guzmán, Miguel Angel Marañon Urquidi, Victor Gonzalo Calisaya Gomez.

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