Where is the missing 20%? While the reason for the 20% reduction in gold declarations is “anybody’s guess” it is unlikely that miners are hoarding the precious mineral with few having the capacity to hold such a large amount of gold, retired Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) William Woolford says.
“The government has a right to be concerned,” he told Stabroek News yesterday. “It has a big impact on the foreign exchange.” Woolford said that the level of operations in the industry has not declined and despite the drop in prices, miners cannot afford to hold gold for a long period of time and several factors have to be looked at in trying to determine why declarations have fallen. He said that only a big player can afford to hold gold for reasons which can be speculated upon. He also warned that the drop in declarations can have adverse impacts on the economy with the majority of liquid foreign exchange earnings coming from gold.
Gold declarations for the first five months of the year have dropped 20% compared to the same period last year and President Donald Ramotar on Saturday expressed worry at the “drastic” reduction, articulating his belief that the reduction in declarations was due to hoarding.
“There has been a drastic reduction in declaration which means that there seems to be a lot of hoarding taking place,”
