The Venezuelan government and the country's opposition are close to reaching an agreement to transfer the central bank's gold reserves, worth about $4 billion, from the "Bank of England" (Bank of England) to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, writes "Financial Times", quoted by BTA.
The discussed deal provides that the interim government of Delcy Rodriguez will gain legal control over the gold, but will not have the right to sell the reserves immediately, four people familiar with the negotiations said.
Instead, the gold could be used as collateral for a government loan to finance expenses, including for reconstruction after the devastating twin earthquakes in June.
The potential agreement on the gold reserves is one of the first concrete results of the US-backed negotiation process between the interim government and the opposition.
If the deal is finalized, it will end the seven-year dispute over the gold reserve that began in 2019, when the US, Britain and some other governments recognized opposition politician Juan Guaido, then president of the National Assembly, as the country's legitimate president.
Since then, the opposition has claimed control over the precious metal that the Venezuelan central bank stores in the vaults of the "Bank of England". At one point, the legal dispute reached the UK Supreme Court, the "Financial Times" recalls.
The agreement has not yet been finalized and the process of clarifying the technical details could take some time, the sources said.