Venezuela chooses to Refine Gold in Turkey because of the American Sanctions; The Yuan is once again in Free Fall; Russia sells its US Treasury Bonds.
Because of US Sanctions, Venezuela Prefers to Refine Gold in Turkey.
Venezuela's central bank began refining gold in Turkey this year following a wave of international sanctions that prevented it from conducting such operations in Switzerland, said Venezuelan Mines Minister Victor Cano.
Venezuela's central bank has been buying gold from small miners in southern Turkey for several years and refining it for use as monetary gold to consolidate its international reserves, which have fallen as the country's socialist economy implodes.
He did not specify which Turkish companies were involved but indicated that the government had purchased 9.1 tonnes of gold from small-scale miners this year, according to RT.
The gold returned to Venezuela after being refined in Turkey and is part of the central bank's asset portfolio, added Cano.
The United States issued several sets of sanctions against Venezuela last year for human rights violations and undermining democracy, including a general ban on US citizens buying new debt from Venezuela and its state-owned enterprises.
The Yuan is in Free Fall Again.
The Chinese currency dropped about 1% compared to the U.S. dollar last week, reaching its lowest level in more than a year. Indeed, the world trade war as well as the Chinese economic slowdown have caused a fall of more than 8% of the Yuan during the last three months.
According to analysts, this latest drop would come from the Chinese central bank which indicated that it was ready to accept a weaker currency.
Contrary to the euro or the dollar, the yuan is not completely convertible. Instead, the Central Bank of China sets a daily fluctuation band of 2% around a central rate.
In addition, the United States and China have imposed billions of dollars in tariffs on their respective goods, and President Donald Trump threatens to hit all Chinese exports.
A lower yuan may increase trade tensions with the United States, which has several times accused China of maintaining its currency artificially low to support its vast export industry, according to CNN.
Russia Liquidates its US Treasury Bonds
Moving away from the American debt, Russia continues to diversify the State's reserves, particularly in the purchase of gold.
The share of Russian debt has reached a minimum of 11 years and totalled only 14.9 billion dollars, in line with recent data from the U.S. Treasury.
Russia is no longer on the list of the 33 largest holders of US debt on which it was 22nd in April with $48.7 billion in bonds.
In March, Russia ranked 16th among the largest debt holders of the United States with $96.1 billion. In April, Russia cut its investment in US Treasury bills in half.
With assets falling to $14.9 billion in May, the country is now below the $30 billion line.
In the meantime, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation reported that in May Russian gold reserves had increased by 1% to 62 million ounces, or $80.5 billion.
Source: BUNKER GOLD&SILVER