BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BOARD RESOLUTION NO. 180/2024

SUBJECT: ECONOMIC POLICY ADVISORY - DEFINING THE GOLD EXPORT QUOTA FOR THE 2025 FISCAL YEAR.

VIEWING:

• 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 Intended for the Strengthening of International Reserves.
• Supreme Decree No. 5076 of November 30, 2023.
• The BCB Statute, approved via 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 via Board Resolution No. 039/2024 of March 18, 2024.
• Board Resolution No. 170/2023 of December 28, 2023.
• Report BCB-APEC-SEXT-INF-2024-92 of December 27, 2024, issued by the Economic Policy Advisory (APEC).
• Report BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2024-544 of December 27, issued by the Legal Affairs Management (GAL).

CONSIDERING:

That Articles 327 and 328 of the Political Constitution of the State determine that the Central Bank of Bolivia 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 numeral 5 of Paragraph I of Article 328 of the Political Constitution of the State establishes that it is an attribute of the Central Bank of Bolivia, 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 Central Bank of Bolivia 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 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 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.

That subsections a) and c) of Article 54 of Law No. 1670 indicate as attributes of the Board of Directors to issue norms and adopt general decisions that are necessary for the BCB to fulfill the functions, competencies, and faculties assigned to it by the Law, and to carry out follow-up on the execution of policies and regulation of monetary, exchange, credit, financial intermediation, and administration of International Reserves.

That Paragraph I of Article 9 of Law No. 1503 establishes that the Central Bank of Bolivia 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 Paragraph III of Article 9 of Law No. 1503 provides that the Central Bank of Bolivia will take the necessary actions for the replenishment of Gold Reserves, based on market conditions and the foreign currency liquidity of 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 with its constitutional mandate, is authorized 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 provides that the BCB, through specific regulation issued by its Board of Directors, will define the quota that will be exported periodically and the requirements for the issuance of the Gold Export Certificate, prior to verification of the quantity required for the replenishment of Gold Reserves.

That Article 3 of the Regulation for the Definition of the Gold Export Quota and for the Issuance of the Gold Export Certificate states that the Economic Policy Advisory will recommend to the BCB Board of Directors the amount of gold that will be authorized for periodic export according to the Monetary Program. The Board of Directors will define the quota via Board Resolution.

That numerales 1) and 3) of Article 5 of the BCB Statute provide that the Issuing Entity has competencies, among others, normative to issue specialized norms in the fields assigned to it by the Law and technical for the formulation of policies and the application of instruments that allow it to fulfill its object.

That numeral 1) of Article 10 of the BCB Statute provides that the Board of Directors has the faculty to approve general decisions and issue norms that are necessary for the BCB to fulfill the functions, competencies, and faculties assigned to it by the Law.

That Paragraph I of Article 24 and Article 26 of the BCB Statute provide that Resolutions and decisions of the Board of Directors are adopted by a simple majority of votes of the members present in a meeting, except in cases where Law No. 1670 or the Statute require qualified majorities; furthermore, the Board of Directors pronounces itself on matters within its competence via Resolutions, so that every draft Board Resolution must be motivated and justified by a technical report from the Management or Managements to which the matter subject to the Resolution corresponds, and by a report from the Legal Affairs Management.

That the report BCB-APEC-SEXT-INF-2024-92 from APEC concludes that in line with Board Act No. 76/2024 of December 26, 2024, which approves the base Monetary Program report, it recommends to the BCB Board of Directors to authorize an export quota for the 2025 fiscal year of 20 metric tons of gold.

That the report BCB-GAL-SANO-DLBCI-INF-2024-544 from GAL concludes that the gold export quota of 20 metric tons for the 2025 fiscal year, according to the Monetary Program recommended by the Economic Policy Advisory, is within the framework of Supreme Decree No. 5076 and the Regulation for the Definition of the Gold Export Quota and for the Issuance of the Gold Export Certificate, insofar as it does not contravene the current legal order and is legally viable; consequently, it recommends to the BCB Board of Directors to define the Export Quota.

THEREFORE,

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF BOLIVIA,

RESOLVES:

Article 1.- Define the Gold Export Quota of 20 metric tons of gold for the 2025 fiscal year.

Article 2.- This Resolution shall enter into force as of January 1, 2025.

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

La Paz, December 30, 2024.

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