BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BOARD RESOLUTION NO. 132/2024

SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT – MODIFY THE REGULATION ON GOLD PURCHASES IN THE DOMESTIC MARKET DESTINED TO STRENGTHEN INTERNATIONAL RESERVES, UNDER LAW NO. 1503 OF MAY 5, 2023.

VIEWED:

The Political Constitution of the State of February 7, 2009.
Law No. 1670 of October 31, 1995 of the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) and its modifications.
Law No. 1503 of May 5, 2023, Law on the Purchase of Gold Destined to Strengthen International Reserves.
Supreme Decree No. 5076 of November 29, 2023.
The BCB Statute, approved by Board Resolution No. 095/2022 of October 6, 2022.
The Regulation for the definition of the Gold Export Quota and for the issuance of the Gold Export Certificate, approved by Board Resolution No. 039/2024 of March 18, 2024.
The Regulation on Gold Purchases in the Domestic Market Destined to Strengthen International Reserves in the framework of Law No. 1503 of May 5, 2023, approved by Board Resolution No. 066/2024 of May 28, 2024 and its modifications.
Report BCB-GOI-SRES-DOI-INF-2024-179 of October 16, 2024, issued by the International Operations Management (GOI).

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Report BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2024-444 of October 16, 2024, issued by the Legal Affairs Management (GAL).

CONSIDERING:

That Article 327 of the Political Constitution of the State determines 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.
That paragraph 5 of Paragraph I of Article 328 of the Political Constitution of the State establishes that it is an attribute of the BCB, in coordination with the economic policy determined by the Executive Branch, to administer International Reserves.
That Paragraph I of Article 349 of the Political Constitution of the State provides that natural resources are of direct, indivisible, and imprescriptible ownership and dominion of the Bolivian people, and their administration will correspond to the State based on the collective interest.
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 regulatory powers of general application.
That Article 14 of Law No. 1670 states 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 establishes that International Reserves are constituted, among other assets, by 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.

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That items a), c), and o) of Article 54 of Law No. 1670 indicate that the Board of Directors has the attributions to issue regulations and adopt general decisions necessary for the BCB to fulfill the functions, competencies, and powers assigned to it by the Law; to monitor the execution of monetary, exchange, credit, financial intermediation, and international reserve administration policies and regulations; and 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 establishes that the purpose of said Law is to authorize the BCB to purchase gold from the domestic market to strengthen International Reserves and to carry out financial operations with International Reserves in gold in international markets.
That Article 2 of Law No. 1503 states that the scope of application of the aforementioned Law includes individual and legal persons, public and private, legally established, registered, and authorized by competent entities, that participate in the marketing of gold.
That Article 4 of Law No. 1503 provides that for the purchase of gold in the domestic market, the BCB will pay in national currency, taking as a base the price of the international gold quotation, under competitive conditions, in accordance with regulations issued by the Issuing Entity.
That Article 5 of Law No. 1503 determines that the BCB will establish the conditions, characteristics, periodicity, limits, and procedures for the acquisition of gold from the domestic market, in accordance with regulations.
That paragraph III of Article 9 of Law No. 1503 establishes that the Central Bank of Bolivia will take the necessary actions for the replenishment of international reserves, based on market conditions and the liquidity of foreign exchange in the International Reserves.
That the Sole Final Provision of Law No. 1503 states that within the framework of Articles 327 and 328 of the Political Constitution of the State, the BCB, with the objective of complying

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with its constitutional mandate, is empowered to apply what is provided in Law No. 1670 of October 31, 1995, of the Central Bank of Bolivia and its modifications, being this sufficient for the development of its functions, without requiring further provisions from said law.

That Paragraph II of Article 2 of Supreme Decree No. 5076 establishes that the BCB, through specific regulation issued by its Board of Directors, will define the requirements for the issuance of the Gold Export Certificate (CEO), prior to verification of the quantity required for the replenishment of gold reserves.
That Articles 5 and 6 of the BCB Statute establish that the BCB has normative, administrative, technical, and financial competencies. Likewise, that BCB regulations will be approved by Board Resolution.
That items 1), 6), and 30) of Article 10 of the BCB Statute provide that the Board of Directors has the faculty to approve general decisions and issue regulations necessary for the issuing entity to fulfill the functions, competencies, and powers assigned to it by the Law; to approve policies and norms for the administration of international reserves, monitor their execution, and approve, modify, and interpret the Statute and regulations, by two-thirds of the votes of all its members, without the need for an additional administrative act.
That Articles 24 and 26 of the Statute provide that Board Resolutions will be adopted by a simple majority of votes of the members present in a meeting. Since every draft Board Resolution must be motivated and justified by a technical report from the Management or Managements to which the subject matter of the resolution corresponds, and by a report from the GAL. These reports must be sent to the Board of Directors by the General Management with its recommendation.
That Report BCB-GOI-SRES-DOI-INF-2024-179 of October 16, 2024 from the GOI concludes on the technical viability of the modification to the "Regulation on Gold Purchases in the Domestic Market Destined to Strengthen International Reserves in the framework of Law No. 1503 of May 5, 2023" with the object of incentivizing gold sellers to offer their production to the BCB instead of exporting it directly, and thus strengthen

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International Reserves through the exchange of the CEO, recommending its approval to the Board of Directors.

That Report BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2024-444 of October 16, 2024 from the GAL concludes that the GOI's proposal to modify the "Regulation on Gold Purchases in the Domestic Market Destined to Strengthen International Reserves in the framework of Law No. 1503 of May 5, 2023", in its Annex I (Calculation Methodology) point 4 (Request for CEO Exchange) and Annex V (Format for CEO Exchange Request Note), is legally viable, and recommends to the BCB Board of Directors its approval through express Resolution.

THEREFORE,

BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF BOLIVIA

RESOLVES:

Article 1.- Modify Annexes I and V of the "Regulation on Gold Purchases in the Domestic Market Destined to Strengthen International Reserves in the framework of Law No. 1503 of May 5, 2023", which form an integral part of this Resolution as an Annex.

Article 2.- This Resolution will enter into force from its publication.

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

La Paz, October 17, 2024.

SIGNED. ROGER EDWIN ROJAS ULO, Gabriel Herbas Camacho, Gumercindo Héctor Pino Guzmán, Diego Alejandro Pérez Cueto Eulert.

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ANNEX I - Calculation Methodology

1. Calculation Methodology for BCB Gold Purchases

a) Fine Weight
Fine Weight (g) = Net Weight (g) x Gold Purity (%)

b) Purchase Price (USD/oz)
Purchase Price (USD/oz)
= International market quotation (USD/oz)
× [1 + % premium or discount]

c) Purchase Price (Bs/g)
Purchase Price (Bs/g)
= [ (Purchase Price (USD/oz)) / 31.1035 (g/oz) ] × Exchange Rate (Bs/USD)

d) Market Sale Value
Market Sale Value (Bs) = Fine Weight (g) × Purchase Price (Bs/g)

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2. Percentage of Premium or Discount per Operation

Ranges by quantity of gold grams	% Premium or Discount*
Lower	Upper
500	2,000	-1.84%
2,001	3,000	-1.38%
3,001	4,000	0.00%
4,001	10,000	0.50%
10,001	20,000	1.50%
20,001	25,000	2.00%
25,001	30,000	3.00%
30,001	40,000	4.00%
40,001	60,000	5.00%
60,001	70,000	6.00%
70,001	80,000	7.00%
80,001	90,000	8.50%
90,001	100,000	9.50%
100,001	110,000	10.00%
110,001	120,000	11.00%
120,001	150,000	11.50%
150,001	onwards	12.50%

*Applicable to the quantity of fine gold.

3. Percentage of Premium or Discount for Periodic Sales

The seller may submit a commitment note in accordance with Annex IV, committing to sell to the BCB a quantity equal to or greater than 50,001 grams of fine gold within a maximum period of fifteen (15) business days.

The premium will be applied to the quantity effectively delivered to the BCB, taking into account the quotation of the BCB Quotation Table on the last business day of the period, according to the range established in the Table in point 2.

The 95% advance and the settlement of the 5% of each operation carried out during the committed period will only be effected based on the quotation of the BCB Quotation Table, without including the premium in each delivery of gold sale to the BCB.

4. Request for CEO Exchange

In the event that the gold seller has an unused Gold Export Certificate (CEO), they may request the exchange of said CEO in accordance with Annex V, in order to benefit from the premiums according to the ranges established in the Table in point 2 of Annex I.

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In the event that the quantity of gold declared in the CEO is equal to or greater than 50,001 grams of fine gold, they may submit a commitment note in accordance with Annex IV.

The corresponding premium is only applicable up to the quantity specified in the presented CEO and is not cumulative with the Premium or Discount Percentages for Periodic Sales.

The presented CEO will be considered used and will automatically become invalid.

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ANNEX V – Format for CEO Exchange Request Note

La Paz, ………………………

To
………………
General Manager
Central Bank of Bolivia
Present.

Ref. CEO Exchange Request

I have the honor to address you:

I, …………… representative of the company ………………… request to exchange the Gold Export Certificate (CEO) No. ………… for ……… grams of fine gold issued in favor of the company I represent, in order to become beneficiaries of the applicable premium, as established in point 4 of Annex I of the Regulation on Gold Purchases in the Domestic Market Destined to Strengthen International Reserves.

Sincerely.

Board Resolution No. 132/2024