Sept 18 (Reuters) – The Venezuelan government and the opposition are close to an agreement to transfer the central bank’s gold reserves, worth about $4 billion, to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from the Bank of England, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report, which cited four people familiar with the discussion.
Under the proposed deal, the interim government of Delcy Rodriguez would gain legal control over the gold but would be unable to sell the holdings immediately, the report said.
Instead, the reserve could potentially be used as collateral for government borrowings, including for reconstruction from June’s twin earthquake, the newspaper added.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Bank of England and the British Foreign Office did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment outside regular business hours. The Venezuelan government and the opposition could not be reached for comment.
Last month, Venezuela’s National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez said the country was working on recovering gold reserves held in the Bank of England’s underground vaults, in an effort to counter surging inflation.
The Bank of England has withheld about 31 metric tons of Venezuelan gold for years citing its non-recognition of the legitimacy of then President Nicolas Maduro’s government.
The BoE’s refusal to release the gold goes back to early 2019 when the British government joined dozens of nations in backing then Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on the basis that Maduro’s election win the previous year had been rigged.
The bullion has been at the center of a prolonged legal dispute in British courts since then, and has not been released despite Maduro’s capture by the US in January and a request by acting President Delcy Rodriguez to King Charles.
(Reporting by Ruchika Khanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Stephen Coates)
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