Per tical gold prices surpass 3 million kyats in Arakan State

By Admin 01 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
1 June 2023, Sittwe

Gold prices have topped 3 million kyats per tical for 24K gold in Arakan State, according to gold shop owners.

Market prices as of 3 p.m. on Thursday saw 24K gold reach 3,051,000 kyats per tical, and 22K gold reached 2,870,000 kyats.

A combination of the kyats depreciation against the US dollar and an upward-trending global gold market, said gold shop owners.

“Gold prices have gone up over the past weeks. People are not selling their gold items either,” said a gold shop owner in Sittwe.

Gold prices have been rising since May 12.

Demand for gold items has declined sharply, meanwhile, from an average of 1 to 1.5 tical per day to two Pe (there are 16 Pe in one tical, according to Myanmar units of measurement), according to local gold shop owners.

But in Kyauktaw, people are pawning or selling their gold items to pay for repairs to houses that were destroyed or damaged by Cyclone Mocha on May 14.

“We buy and sell depending on prices in Yangon,” said a gold shop owner in Kyauktaw. “There is only a gap of 10,000 kyats between selling prices in Yangon and Arakan. Many people have been pawning or selling their gold items following the storm.”

The reference rate set by the Yangon Region Gold Entrepreneurs Association is 2.9 million kyats per tical for 24K gold. The association chairman, U Myo Myint, told DMG that the association can take action to address complaints about gold purveyors selling for more than 3 million kyats per tical.

“People are making false statements on social media that gold prices have increased. We can control gold prices. We can take action if [buyers] complain along with a voucher that they are charged more than 3 million kyats. Gold prices in the domestic market will fall if the exchange rate and global gold prices decline,” he said.

Gold prices have steadily increased alongside a slumping kyat in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and military coup, according to gold shop owners.