Bolivia

The Bolivian financial regulator (ASFI) will offer the savings deposited in Banco Fassil to other banks that can guarantee its devolution, a process that could last a month, but if this fails, a forced liquidation of assets may be considered, said ASFI Director Reynaldo Yujra in a press conference, Bloomberg News reported. Fassil reported liquidity problems since the beginning of the year but the situation worsened in March, when the entity cut its credit and debit card services and interrupted online transfers.

Bolivia’s central bank is rebuilding its international reserves as it deals with a “transitory” liquidity problem affecting the country, according to Finance Minister Marcelo Montenegro, Bloomberg News reported. The minister declined to elaborate on what the current level of reserves is, but said it had increased recently. The central bank board can decide to withhold the data to avoid creating “more speculation,” he said. “They’re replenishing them,” Montenegro said in an interview on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings in Washington.

Bolivia’s government has arrested a former Treasury Ministry official as part of an investigation into a loan from the International Monetary Fund that was renounced by new President Luís Arce, the Associated Press reported. Former Vice Minister Carlos Schlink was arrested Tuesday as he was trying to leave the country, according to prosecutor Manuel Saavedra. Three former treasury ministers also are under investigation. Schlink served under former interim President Jeanine Áñez, who herself has been detained on charges of sedition.

Apex Silver Mines Ltd, which runs silver mining operations in Latin America, has sought bankruptcy protection from creditors with a New York court, with plans to sell its stake in a Bolivian mining operation, Reuters reported. The company filed a Chapter 11 petition with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan late Monday, and says it will receive $27.5 million plus other consideration for its stake in the San Cristbal Mine in Bolivia from Sumitomo Corp.