THE drastic reduction in the gold declaration over the past few months, compared to a similar period last year, has been noticed.

Making the observation during last Saturday’s news conference at State House in Georgetown, President Donald Ramotar said: “There has been a drastic reduction in declaration, which means that there seems to be a lot of hoarding taking place.”
He acknowledged the possibility that, given the current price for gold, miners are “probably” holding out to see if the prices will go up.
The Head of State was optimistic that miners are making money but remarked that the developing trend is cause for worry.
“I still think that miners are making money. I don’t think they are losing,” he said.
According to him, the miners will be engaged and, hopefully, persuaded to sell the gold in their possession to avert any negative impacts on the local economy.
“I hope that we don’t have to use any coercion and by persuasion they will make their declarations,” he said.
Last week, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) and licensed gold dealers were encouraged to support the Government’s effort to increase declaration.

AGREED UPON
A meeting was held at the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment with Minister Robert Persaud, Chairman of the Guyana Gold Board (GGB), Dr. Gobind Ganga, and President and Executives of the GGDMA and Private Dealers; where measures were discussed and agreed upon to improve the level of gold declaration.
Some of the measures to be pursued immediately include public sensitization, proactive monitoring and enforcement drive by the GGB regarding undeclared gold transactions, enhanced inter-agency coordination including law enforcement agencies and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), stringent enforcement of reporting obligations by miners to be carried by the GGMC, and crackdown on illegal gold trading entities across the country with the assistance of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
Stakeholders pledged their support for those measures and Minister Persaud emphasised that the Government remains uncompromising in its efforts to ensure full compliance with the laws for dealing with the issue of undeclared gold as well as reports of smuggling.
According to Bloomberg, a top information source for financial and business matters, gold was trading near a four-month low and, as of Friday, prices stood at US$1,247 per ounce.
Gold prices were steady at US$1,400 per ounce for most of June 2013 and at the start of January 2014, the price was US$1,225 per ounce.
Written By Vanessa Narine