LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivia’s senate early on Friday morning gave closing approval to a so-called “gold legislation” geared toward strengthening the nation’s international foreign money reserves.

The laws, which was supported by the ruling occasion and permits the central financial institution to monetize its gold reserves, will now be despatched to President Luis Arce to signal into legislation inside 10 days.

Fears over a scarcity of {dollars} in current months have fanned broader worries over an financial disaster in Bolivia, the place international foreign money reserves have been falling for years and the place the native foreign money is pegged to the buck.

In an announcement after the vote, Bolivia’s central financial institution stated the legislation was the results of a “consensus with gold producers, mining cooperative members, social and union organizations from completely different sectors and nationwide legislators.”

The brand new legislation will enable the central financial institution to purchase uncooked gold from mining cooperatives within the nation and convert it into gold foreign money or bars to commerce on worldwide markets.

“We’ve permitted the legislation by majority … It’s to make sure a secure financial system within the plurinational state,” stated Hilarion Mamani, a senator for the ruling leftist occasion MAS.

Bolivia’s web international reserves have fallen from a peak above $15 billion in 2014 to lower than $4 billion now.

“Bolivia has a deep disaster and this legislation is just a palliative,” stated opposition Senator Andrea Barrientos after the controversy.