KATHMANDU, APRIL 20
As the wedding season has started, the demand for gold has also increased.
Even at around Rs 90,000 per tola, the demand for the precious yellow metal is high. According to Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association (FeNe- GoSiDA), the market hit by the pandemic is gradually gaining momentum. As people are convinced the gold price is unlikely to go down anytime soon and they need it for several occasions, gold demand has increased, said Manik Ratna Shakya, president of FeNeGoSiDA.
According to the dealers, the market demand is yet to be met.
As per the federation, at least 40 kg gold is needed per day to meet the current market demand.
However, the government has capped import quota for gold at 20 kg a day at the moment. Starting from April, the government allowed import of 20 kg gold per day. Earlier, the daily import quota for gold had been set at 10 kg.
"Twenty kg of gold is insufficient as the demand for gold has increased due to the wedding season," Shakya said, adding, "Delay in increasing the import quota could hurt the market recovery."
According to him, even during the normal times, the daily demand for gold in the market stands at around 25 kg. The federation has urged the government several times to increase the gold import quota and is unsatisfied with the government's recent quota revision.
After rising for the last few weeks, the gold price declined slightly today. The gold price was set at Rs 90,700 per tola today, down Rs 300 a tola compared to Rs 91,000 per tola on Monday.
With many countries grappling with the second wave of the pandemic, the price of bullion - considered a safe haven during the times of turmoil - has also surged in the recent days, stated the federation.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 21, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
