Venezuela removed eight tonnes of gold from the central bank’s vaults last week, and the cash-strapped socialist state is expected to sell the bullion abroad as it seeks to raise hard currency in the face of U.S. sanctions, Reuters reports, citing a lawmaker and one government source.
With sanctions imposed by Washington choking off revenues from exports by state oil company PDVSA, President Nicolas Maduro’s increasingly isolated administration has turned to sales of Venezuela’s substantial gold reserves as one of the only sources of foreign currency.
The government source said the central bank’s reserves had fallen by 30 tonnes since the start of the year before U.S. President Donald Trump tightened sanctions, leaving the bank with around 100 tonnes in its vaults, worth more than $4 billion.
At that rate of decline, the central bank’s reserves would nearly disappear by the end of the year, leaving Maduro’s government struggling to pay for imports of basic goods.
Venezuela’s central bank and its information ministry responded to requests for comment.
Trump’s administration has declared Venezuela part of a “troika of tyranny” in Latin America, including left-leaning governments in Cuba and Nicaragua. It is seeking to cut off cash flow to Maduro’s government, foster dissent in the armed forces and oust him from power in the OPEC nation.
The United States and 50 other Western nations have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
Asked to comment on the new removal of gold, a U.S...
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