Venezuela Crisis: Gold Sales Halted as US, UK Target Caracas’ Hard Assets

By Staff, Agencies

Reports suggested that Venezuela plans to sell 15 tons of its central bank gold to the United Arab Emirates [UAE] in return for euros in cash.

The announced goal behind this step was to sell 29 tons in total to the UAE by February, so as to obtain liquidity for the import of basic products.

Caracas has scrapped a plan to ship 20 tons of Venezuelan gold out of the country, Bloomberg cited a source familiar with the matter as saying.

The source added that the gold bars, worth about $850 million, had allegedly been prepared for transportation at the Venezuelan Central Bank but that they will "not be sent out anytime soon".

Those who were handling the transaction were ostensibly angered by increasing international drive to "ring-fence" Venezuela's hard assets, according to the same source.

The reported developments come after the UAE's investment company Noor Capital claimed that it had bought three tons of gold from Venezuela's Central Bank following media reports about Caracas' plans to sell 15 tons of gold in order to back the country's troubled currency, the bolivar.

Last week, the Bank of England reportedly denied Venezuela's request to pull out its gold bars after US National Security Adviser John Bolton and US State Secretary Mike Pompeo announced sanctions against the country and froze the Maduro government's foreign assets.

Earlier in January, media reported that Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido had sent a letter to UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, asking them to prevent Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from pulling out any of gold held in the UK's central bank.