In the first three months of the year, Dominican gold exports experienced a 22.4% increase in the FOB value of exports, compared to the same period in 2019. This despite the volume of exports had dropped 42.5%. The DR exported US$349.78 million between January and March 2019, and US$428.05 million for the same period in 2020.
Barrick’s Pueblo Viejo Dominicana announced having paid US$185 million in direct taxes and US$9 million in indirect taxes to the Dominican government in the first four months of the year. These payments include advances of income taxes, net profit interest and royalties on the sales of gold and silver paid in the first quarter of 2020, as well as the final settlement of the 2019 fiscal year.
Barrick says that Pueblo Viejo’s exports in the first quarter of this year represented 37% of the country’s total exports of national goods, with a value of US$399 million of a total of US$1,081 million1.
The Customs Agency (DGA) reports that raw gold exported from January to March 2020 averaged US$1,550.10 per ounce. Gold bar exports registered an average price of US$1,262.85 per ounce. From January to March 2020, 8,700.90 kilograms of gold were exported. Dominican gold exports were 42.9% of the total national exports of US$997.21 million.
In an interview with El Dinero, economist Henri Hebrard, said the increase in gold prices is because people perceive gold is a safe commodity in uncertain times, as reported in El Dinero. He noted that if the upward trend continues, gold prices could reach US$2,000 per ounce by the end of 2020.
He said the rise in gold prices means more tax revenue for the Dominican government.
7 May 2020