The Council of Ministers adopted on February 19 the text establishing a strategic gold reserve with the objective of securing Gabon’s foreign assets in the performance of certain current operations.
In view of the attractiveness of this raw material in recent months, with the economic crisis shaking the planet, the government decided in the Council of Ministers on February 19 to establish a strategic gold reserve for the country. “As such, said draft ordinance specifies the constituent elements of the strategic gold reserve, as well as the operating and control framework; the latter being provided by the Parliament, in addition to the competent administrative bodies ”, specifies the final communiqué of the Council of Ministers.
A gold reserve is a quantity of gold held by a central bank or financial institution, for the purpose of securing a transaction, a credit agreement or to constitute a guarantee fund. Thus, the objective of the government through this decision is to ensure Gabon’s external assets in the performance of certain current operations, to carry out legal deposit and to carry out on foreign markets any financial operation authorized by the Gabonese Republic.
One of the reasons for these official foreign exchange reserves is to show the markets that the country has the means to withstand an economic shock (rise in commodity prices, for example), but also financial (credit crisis). ), or even a major natural disaster. The objective is therefore above all to get players in the world economy to trust Gabon. Gabon will become the 115th state to hold a strategic gold reserve in the world and the 15th in Africa.
