Kathmandu, June 23

Owing to the constant rise in the price of gold, people have been increasingly selling their gold jewellery and the trend has extremely pressurised jewellery outlets in Kathmandu Valley, as per jewellers.

The yellow metal was priced at an alltime high of Rs 65,000 per tola today (Sunday), recording an increment in price by Rs 2,000 a tola over the last week. This rise in the price of the bullion has prompted people to go on a selling spree of gold jewellery in recent weeks, thereby pressurising jewellers.

Bullion traders have said that the rise in gold price has not only increased the selling spree of gold jewellery among customers, but has also affected jewellery business lately. “People these days rarely visit jewellery outlets to purchase jewellery.

While those customers willing to purchase gold jewellery are waiting for the price of the yellow metal to fall, other customers are selling their jewellery to book quick profits,” said Mani Ratna Shakya, former president of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association.

Jewellers have said that the jewellery business has come down by more than 50 per cent in recent weeks. According to them, the demand for raw gold in the domestic market a week back stood at almost 40 kg per day which has fallen to around 15-20 kg in recent days.

Jewellers have cited the ongoing trade war between the United States and China as the major reason behind the rise in price of gold in the international and the Nepali market. “The trade war between the US and China has encouraged investors towards investing in gold, thereby raising gold demand and increasing its price. As investors are finding it safe to invest in gold over other financial instruments or commodities, the demand of the metal has increased in the global market affecting the price,” said Shakya.

Along with this, Shakya also said the recent rise in import duty on gold has raised the price of the yellow metal in the domestic market. The government, through the budget for fiscal year 2019- 20, had increased the import duty on gold by Rs 800 per 10 grams. As a result, gold importers now have to pay import tax worth Rs 5,000 per 10 grams though they were paying Rs 4,200 per 10 grams earlier.