Gold declarations for the first five months of the year have dropped 20% compared to the same period last year and President Donald Ramotar yesterday sounded the alarm at the “drastic” reduction and hinted that the authorities could go after gold hoarders.

“There has been a drastic reduction in declaration which means that there seems to be a lot of hoarding taking place,” the President said, responding to a question from Stabroek News during a news conference at State House yesterday. “That’s a very worrying situation at this point in time,” he said. Gold prices have fallen recently but Ramotar said that he believes that miners are making money. He said that they are “probably” hoarding and waiting to see if prices go up.