Economics
Venezuela Sells $570 Million From Gold Reserve Despite Sanctions
- People familiar with situation say Maduro skirting sanctions
- Maduro needs gold money to fund imports, buy military loyalty
A member of a military Members of a military transportation agency unload gold bars from a plane for transport to the Central Bank of Venezuela in Caracas on March 22, 2018.
Photographer: Manaure Quintero/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Venezuela sold about $570 million in gold from central bank reserves over the past two weeks, skirting U.S. Treasury sanctions designed to freeze assets of the Nicolas Maduro’s administration, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The central bank sold about 9.7 tons of gold on May 10 and an additional 4 tons three days after, the people said, driving its reserves down to a 29-year low of $7.9 billion. The proceeds will be partly used to fund imports through the country’s foreign trade office, according to one of the people.