Gold price falls to Rs200,000 per tola in Pakistan

Gold rate fell for the second consecutive trading session in Pakistan on Saturday in hopes of further recovery of the local currency against the US dollar — which gained over 2% in the last session.

According to All-Pakistan Sarafa Gems and Jewellers Association (APSGJA), the price of gold (24 carats) fell by Rs1,600 per tola and Rs1,372 per 10 grams to settle at Rs200,000 and Rs171,468, respectively.

While the price of yellow metal fell over Rs3,000 in two trading sessions, it cumulatively gained Rs5,900, or 3.03% per tola during the week ended March 4.

The precious commodity scaled to an all-time high of 210,500 per tola on January 30, 2023; however, the gold price started receding after the rupee recovered on hopes of revival of the $6.5 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme.

Meanwhile, refinancing from China clouded the outlook of gold which is expected to boost the dwindling foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan. A day earlier, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced that formalities with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) were completed.

"ICBC approved rollover of $1.3 billion facility which has been repaid by Pakistan to ICBC in recent months," Dar announced on Twitter.

He said that the facility would be disbursed in three instalments, first, one of $500 million has been received by the State Bank of Pakistan.

It should be noted that Pakistan meets almost all its gold demand through imports, and traders follow its international price in setting rates in the country. Jewellers import the metal against the US dollar and UAE dirham before converting its price into rupees.

Meanwhile, silver prices in the domestic market remained unchanged at Rs2,140 per tola and Rs1,834.70 per 10 grams, respectively.

In the international market, gold prices climbed to a two-week high and were heading for their first weekly rise in five as a pullback in the US dollar and Treasury yields offered some respite from prospects of more rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. The per-ounce gold price registered a meagre gain of $8 settling at $1,856.