Pure gold price swells to K3.9 mln per tical in grey market

Following spot gold price gaining above US$2,000 per ounce and Kyat depreciation against the US dollar, the pure gold price surged to K3.915 million per tical (0.578 ounce, or 0.016 kilogramme) in the unofficial market. Meanwhile, the Yangon Gold Entrepreneurs Association set the reference price at K3.6558 million per tical, indicating the large difference of over K250,000 per tical between the YGEA’s price and the actual market value.
Earlier, the YGEA used the interbank online 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 factors. The Kyat-US dollar exchange rate is some K3,600 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 August 2023. Subsequently, the YGEA requested the members to deal in immediate transactions with instant payments to curb the volatile market. — NN/EM