The Central Bank of Argentina has confirmed that some of its gold reserves have been transferred abroad and issued a statement saying it has "completed the transfer of part of its gold reserves to different accounts."

As pointed out by the Argentine news website Clarin, the bank issued the statement amid controversy following its first disclosure in mid-July.

At that time, the central bank tried to allay concerns about the move and responded to the request for public information made by the Secretary General of the Bankers' Association, Sergio Palazzo.

"The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) has successfully completed the transfer of part of its gold reserves between different accounts," the bank said in a statement, without providing specific details about the amount transferred.

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BCRA head Santiago Bausili stated that all "account rebalancing operations" were thoroughly discussed before being initiated, similar to actions taken in the past decade to address concerns that the transfer would result in the country's gold reserves being seized to repay unpaid debts.

The BCRA statement said: "The BCRA's organizational charter and Law No.

23928 authorize the monetary authority to manage reserves on a daily basis, including not only gold but also foreign exchange and other external assets."

"For more than a decade, BCRA has maintained the same management choices for its gold reserves, whether in physical form (gold bars and ingots) or electronic form (accounts abroad)."

The central bank also noted that the rebalancing operations "do not change the total amount of gold reserves, which, according to the balance sheet of August 23, 2024, are still equivalent to approximately $4.981 billion."

According to an anonymous source, the purpose of transferring funds abroad was to have the gold certified and used as collateral for obtaining financing.

Another source said that before this move, about half of Argentina's gold was stored in domestic vaults, and the other half was stored in London.

BCRA officials also criticized what they called "irresponsible" reporting about the gold going abroad and emphasized the importance of confidentiality regarding activities related to the country's gold reserves.

The Central Bank of Argentina said in a statement on Monday: "The Central Bank of Argentina is concerned about the irresponsible dissemination of information related to these actions for political purposes before the completion of these actions, as this would jeopardize the asset security of all Argentines."

"To protect its security, information about the management of BCRA reserves has always been kept confidential.

The General Audit Office of the Nation and the relevant control entities maintain access to this information under the same veil of confidentiality."

The controversy surrounding the movement of Argentine gold began in mid-July when Plazzo revealed that the Central Bank of Argentina transported gold bars from its headquarters to London, noting that the move resulted in the reserves being confiscated due to an embargo order by Argentina's debt creditors.

Analysts said that the ultimate destination of the gold reserves was the headquarters of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, where the country has been storing gold belonging to the BCRA for many years.

If this is true, then these funds are safe because all assets stored at the Bank for International Settlements have "sovereign immunity," which means they are not subject to embargo requests.

Argentine Minister of Economy Luis Caputo stated that the move was positive, "because today having gold in the bank is like having a property there that you simply cannot use.

On the contrary, if you have gold abroad, you can earn a return—the country needs to maximize the return on its assets."