Sharjah – Omaima Yasser –
Some pages and accounts on social networking sites circulated news of stopping sales in gold shops.
And media outlets reported that some pages and accounts on the social media circulated news that there were instructions to stop selling gold until further notice, after the uproar caused by the rise in gold prices to historical levels in Egypt, and accusations of traders exaggerating pricing.
And the page of the “i jewelers” website on Facebook, a company that sells jewelry and bullion on the Internet, announced that it had suspended trading on gold, until further notice, and also stopped announcing prices, “as a result of the confusion in gold prices locally.”
And the “Masrawy” website quoted Hani Milad, head of the Gold Division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, as saying that there is no truth to what is being circulated on social media, by stopping sales in gold shops.
Milad confirmed that the buying and selling movement continues in its natural form in gold shops, adding that the demand for bullion and gold pounds is currently high in the markets, for consumers to take gold as a safe haven.
Milad indicated that the increase in demand for bullion and gold pounds pushed prices to rise in the local market.
According to Naguib Naguib, the former Secretary General of the Gold Division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, in statements to the “Masrawy” website, the price of a gram of 21 karat gold rose to 1250 pounds on Friday, which is considered the highest price ever locally.
During the past days, gold prices in Egypt witnessed big jumps, following the US Central Bank’s announcement of raising interest rates on the dollar, which raised some expectations regarding the possibility of an increase in the price of the US currency against the pound.
Najeeb stated that “the prices are currently rising due to the rise in the price of the dollar in the parallel market.”
The price of gold in Egypt is usually linked to the price of the dollar against the pound, especially in the parallel market.