The country’s gold and silver market resumed transactions on Sunday after 2.5 months. The market has been closed since March 21, three days before the country closed to impose a Coronavirus outbreak in the region.
The lockdown is still ongoing, however late, traders have slowly begun to defy restrictions and shift toward normalcy. In this regard, the Federation of Nepalese Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the umbrella organization for jewellers in the region, has decided to resume the business.
Meanwhile, the jeweller market has seen a surge in the prices of both metals, on Wednesday. Gold has become dearer by around Rs 10,000 per tola than it was before the lockdown whereas silver by around Rs 200 per tola.
The price of gold in the Nepali market shot up by Rs 1,000 per tola (1 tola = 11.66 grams) on Friday as it reached an all-time high.
As of the market price set by the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Associations, a tola of the fine precious yellow metal (24 carat) costs Rs 94,000. This rate is Rs 1,300 dearer than that of yesterday. Likewise, a tola of tejabi gold (22 carat) costs Rs 93,560. Meanwhile, a tola of silver costs Rs 1,135.
The Federation’s Secretary-General, Dharma Sundar Bajracharya, says that today’s gold price is record high, while the silver record price is already as high as Rs 1,450 per tola.
The federation said that the hike in customs duty was one of the reasons for the increment. It further stated that the clash between the US and Iran over uranium enrichment along with US-China trade war had further pushed up prices.
Gold and silver prices are also projected to increase in the next few days due to the economic effects of Covid-19.
Tags: Nepal Gold Market, Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Association.