Pure gold price rocketed to almost K3.9 million per tical (0.578 ounce or 0.016 kilogramme) at the end of January in the unofficial market on global market shifts.
Tracking the spot gold price rebound and Kyat depreciation against the US dollar, the gold price hit K3.89 million per tical on 31 January. Meanwhile, the Yangon Gold Entrepreneurs Association set the reference price at K3.6612 million per tical, showing a notable price difference of over K220,000 per tical between the YGEA’s price and the actual market value.
Earlier, the YGEA used the interbank transaction rate set by the CBM in calculating the reference price for pure gold, indicating a big gap of K400,000-K500,000 per tical.
On 5 December, the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) allowed authorized dealers (private banks) to operate forex exchange transactions freely as per the market rate determined by the supply and demand forces.
The Kyat-US dollar exchange rate is currently around K3,540 at the over-the-counter market.
When the kyat weakened to K4,000 against the greenback in the forex market, the gold price peaked at K4 million per tical in late August 2023.
Thus, the YGEA urged the members to deal in immediate transactions at instant payments to curb the volatile market. — NN/EM
