WILLEMSTAD - The Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS) is not allowed to sell the gold stock of the Country of Curaçao. The Council of Ministers recently decided this on a proposal from the Minister of Finance, Javier Silvania (MFK). Silvania announced this on his Facebook page.
The CBCS manages the official reserves. That is, the currencies and the gold. The management is regularly assessed for the possibilities of further optimizing its effectiveness. Last April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) assisted the CBCS in evaluating its management. One of the recommendations was to have less gold in stock.
Compared to other central banks of comparable size, the CBCS has a much larger share of gold in the official reserves. The current value of the gold stock is 1.3 billion guilders and covers more than a quarter of all assets.
According to the CBCS, the gold reserve acts as an ultimate buffer in cases of a major external shock on the economies of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, resulting in a rapid decline in foreign exchange reserves. In the event of such an exceptional balance-of-payments crisis, the gold reserve can guarantee foreign exchange attracting by the central bank to continue financing the necessary imports.
In principle, the Minister of Finance has no powers regarding the management of official reserves by the central bank. Because both parties attach importance to careful communication and want to avoid unnecessary unrest, there is mutual coordination.