Pure gold price gains on global cues

The price of pure gold surged to K3.55 million per tical (0.578 ounce or 0.016 kilogramme) in the grey market tracking the rise in spot gold price to US$1,990 per ounce.
Along with the Kyat depreciation against the US dollar at K4,000, the pure gold price hit an all-time high of K4 million per tical last August.
The pure gold price fell again to K3.4 million per tical with the Kyat devaluation against US dollars slowing at approximately K3,300 in the grey market.
Nonetheless, the reference price set by the Yangon Gold Entrepreneurs Association was only K3.1 million per tical, indicating a large gap of over K400,000 per tical between the reference price and the reference price.
Yangon Gold Entrepreneurs Association (YGEA) switched to the Central Bank of Myanmar’s exchange rate (K2,900) for interbank transactions in calculating the reference price for pure gold. At present, the US dollar is exchanged at K3,250 in the grey market.
The US dollar exchange rate, therefore, weighs on the gap between the domestic gold market value and YGEA’s reference gold price.
The soaring dollar exchanging up to K4,000 drove the gold price up to a record high of K4 million per tical in late August 2023. — NN/EM