The spot gold price dropped below US$1,900 per ounce, prompting the Yangon Region Gold Entrepreneurs Association (YGEA) to lower the reference price to K2,210,000 per tical (0.578 ounce or 0.016 kilogramme) at the end of September.
The spot gold price hit $1,940 per ounce in early September and slid to $1,877 per ounce at the end of September, indicating a decrease of over $60 over the past 20 days.
Nonetheless, pure gold in the grey market bucked the global trend and hit approximately K3.4 million per tical. There is a price difference of K1.1 million per tical between the market value and the reference price by the YGEA.
YGEA calculated the price depending on the Central Bank of Myanmar’s reference exchange rate of K2,100, with some addition, while the US dollar is exchanged at over K3,300 in shady dealings.
The US dollar exchange rate influences domestic gold prices. The soaring dollar exchanging at over K4,500 hiked up the gold price to a record-high of K3.7 million per tical in late August 2022. — NN/EM
