Gold could hit Rs50,000 a tola (11.6 grams)by year-end

[LahoreEstate]

By Riaz Khan Daudzai

PESHAWAR: Gold price is likely to touch a record peak of Rs50,000 a tola (11.6 grams) by the end of this year at the local market as billions of rupees pour into the gold trade besides growing prices of the precious metal in the international market, sources say.

In addition to seasonal and permanent brokers in Dubai international market, sources said, local experts in property business have entered into gold trade with billions of rupees as the property business has been on the slippery slide since militancy hit the NWFP, particularly the provincial metropolis.

Gold price remained unchanged on Tuesday at Rs39,000 a tola (24 carat) and Rs38,000 for 22 carat while the international market was at $1,164.75 per ounce. Price of sliver (chandi) stayed at Rs580 a tola.

The sources said gold trade in the country is entirely dependent on imported gold from Dubai.

“Today, it has risen by 70 per cent, but it is hardly a reason for the increase in gold prices,” an office-bearer of the Sarafa Bazaar Association said. He supported the speculation that gold price may reach Rs50,000 a tola in the local market by the end of the year if it continued to move upwards. It was around Rs28,000 a tola just two months ago, he said. “Dealer-level buying has gone up by leaps and bounds, but the customer buying has dropped in the current month,” he said.

He said families, which were asking for 991-gram gold bars (one kilo bars) have now vanished and those wanted to buy 30 to 50 tolas for weddings have now restricted their purchases to five to 10 tolas. He said the gold market mainly responds to three main seasons on the sub-continent, Ramazan, Devali (Hindu festival) and Hajj, but this time none of them is likely to bring its prices down considerably.

However, he said many still hoped that the Hajj season may cause a slight decrease in the price of gold in the local market. He said devaluation of the dollar is another reason for increase in the prices of gold, but decline in the value of rupee is also affecting the gold trade twofold in the country.

To a question he said most traders imported gold from Dubai on daily basis and none of them approached the State Bank of Pakistan for the metal. “We only approach the SBP for the forex when we need it for the gold imports,” he said.


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