Argentina's Missing Gold Reserves Found in Swiss Vault
The mystery of Argentina's missing gold reserves has finally been solved after two years of speculation and official secrecy. In August 2024, the Central Bank shipped out half of its gold reserves abroad, with video footage showing a truck carrying US$250 million in gold bars heading to Buenos Aires' main international airport. The destination was never confirmed until now, when Governor Santiago Bausili told a Senate committee hearing that the gold is being held in a vault at the Swiss Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Switzerland.
Bausili explained that the Central Bank took advantage of a window of opportunity created by a surge in global demand for gold bars in 2024. This allowed them to exchange older, lower-grade ingots for finer ones at a lower-than-historical cost. The governor insisted that the operation was fully audited and documented throughout.
Opposition lawmakers had been pressing officials over the whereabouts of the reserves, with some even raising the possibility of filing a criminal complaint. However, Bausili dismissed speculation about the Central Bank's motives, saying it 'seems tempting to construct a conspiracy, or a novel'.