Bolivia Scraps Central Bank Gold Buying, Eases Export Controls

The shift matters less for gold flows than for Bolivia's balance-of-payments plumbing: by requiring most export proceeds to return through domestic banks, the government trades direct control over the metal for a claim on hard-currency inflows. That could ease reserve pressure while giving private miners and exporters a freer hand, at the cost of the central bank's role as a buyer of last resort. Whether the 80% repatriation rule is actually enforced — and whether formal channels attract gold that previously moved informally — is the open question.