The Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE) informed that it concluded the process of refining and certification of 80,850.697 troy ounces of non-monetary gold , purchased from small miners and artisanal miners, in compliance with the provisions of article 36 of the Organic Monetary Code and Finance and in article 49 of the Mining Law.
The operation was carried out with an international refiner accredited by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA).
As a result of this operation, certified gold bars whose value, at the date of registration, is $157.98 million, have been incorporated into the International Reserve (RI) of Ecuador.
The operation was carried out with an international refiner accredited by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) , which was contracted after a transparent qualification and selection process.
The gold of Ecuador that is part of the RI is guarded by international financial institutions that guarantee its security as established by the ECB regulations.
Meanwhile, the completion of this process was also announced by the general manager of the BCE, Guillermo Avellán, through his Twitter account.
Avellán indicated that certified gold allows to diversify the assets of the International Reserve, access lines of credit, improve the financial position of the Central Bank of Ecuador and strengthen dollarization.
“Maintaining gold as part of the RI is of vital importance, since it represents a refuge asset, which appreciates during scenarios of uncertainty in the financial markets and in the face of geopolitical risks,” the ECB explained in a statement.
Since 2012, and in compliance with current law, the BCE has developed a gold marketing program that benefits the small-scale and artisanal mining sector. This program promotes the formalization of the mining sector, promoting the legal and sustainable development of this activity in Ecuador, through a rigorous qualification process of Ecuadorian miners before the BCE and the exchange of information between public entities. (I)
