a Paz, May 6 (EFE).- The presidential promulgation of the Gold Law in Bolivia has generated this Saturday expectations in the business sector that from this expects there will be an improvement in the economy, while other positions assure that the Government You still have to apply complementary actions.
“It is a measure (enactment) that we value as necessary and timely. Together with the increase in exports, international credit and support for the private productive sector, it will allow better conditions for recovery and growth,” said the Confederation of Private Entrepreneurs (CEPB) on Twitter.
President Luis Arce promulgated this Friday night la “Gold Purchase Law to Strengthen International Reserves” dAfter the Senate gave its approval after an extensive session that pitted the opposition against an ruling party with internal fissures.
The regulation aims to strengthen net international reserves (NIR) through the direct purchase of gold from local producers to refine it and certify it internationally as a reserve asset, in addition to carrying out financial operations with it in international markets.
It also establishes that the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) must maintain a minimum of 22 tons of gold reserves and will also have to report every four months to the Legislature on the operations it carries out with this asset.
In a statement, the Government indicated that the BCB has a maximum period of 60 days to approve the regulation that indicates “the conditions, characteristics and procedures” for the purchase of gold in the domestic market.
The businessman and opponent Samuel Doria Medina expressed on Twitter that the Gold Law “gives hope to the markets”, but that “the authorities do not believe that they have resolved the matter” and considered that it is also necessary to “reduce expenses, contract the money supply , increase exports, change people’s expectations ».
Precisely, the approval process for this rule occurred in the midst of the shortage of dollars in the financial system that coincided last February with the latest BCB report on the situation of the NIRs.
Currently, the situation of the NIRs is not known and there is only the report from last February when they reached 3,538 million dollars, one of the lowest levels since 2014, when they reached 15,122 million.
Precisely, this aspect deserved the criticism of the ex-president Jorge ‘Tuto’ Quiroga who this day on Twitter questioned that this data “has been hidden” since February 8.
Quiroga also launched questions towards President Arce demanding “information” about the current situation of foreign exchange, legal reserves, special drawing rights, among other aspects.
The situation of international reserves that coincides with the low liquidity of dollars has generated criticism of the sustainability of the Bolivian economic model, of which President Arce has been a mentor since he was Minister of Economy of former President Evo Morales.
Several critics have called for the elimination of some subsidies such as fuel or the adjustment to the exchange rate, which has been fixed since 2011, while the Government has ruled out that and has highlighted its economic management with inflation control. EFE
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