Record price, 1 lakh 86 thousand rupees per tola
When the Nepal Gold and Silver Traders Federation determined the price of gold on Chait 21, the price per ounce in the international market was $3,148. According to this, the Federation has fixed Rs 180,300 per tola for the local market. This price was the highest in history.
The price of gold began to fall after the economic and political upheaval in the international market and the price peaked. On March 26, gold per ounce in the international market was fixed at $3,000. The federation has fixed Rs 1 lakh 73 thousand 400 per tola for the domestic market. The international media said that the price will drop further. But since March 27, the price has started to rise again.
'Instability in the market was reducing prices. We had estimated that the price would drop to 160,000 tolas," said Tejaratna Shakya, a gold analyst, "Now it has started to rise again. Volatility in international markets has reached its peak. Now the price will decrease or increase, there is no way to monitor anything. The price of gold, which had reached 3,000 dollars per ounce in the international market, increased to 3,213 dollars per ounce by the morning of March 29. On this day, the Federation had set a price of 185,000 rupees per tola for the Nepalese market. This price was also the highest in history.
The price of gold per ounce reached $3,238 at the close of business on the international market on Friday night. Taking it as a basis, the federation set a price of 1 lakh 86 thousand rupees per tola in the local market on Sunday. This price also set a record. "From the international to the local market, prices have gone up," said Shakya. Based on the price fixed by the federation on Sunday, the consumer price is more than 2 lakh rupees per tola. Because the jewelers add the labor charges separately while selling the jewelry. They add a 12 to 18 percent surcharge depending on the design of the jewelry to the consumer price.
What are the reasons for the instability in the price of gold in the international market? Experts say, "Recently, the trade policy taken by America, the Russia-Ukraine war, etc. are the reasons. It is said that due to the heated dispute between America and China, the investors of the world have started investing in gold. According to Shakya, the effect of the fluctuation of trade seen in the international market is seen in the domestic market. The main reason for the instability seen in gold is the geopolitical tension. "Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas war is one reason," Shakya said, "The second major reason is the tax policy of US President Donald Trump."
Trump prioritized three things in his election manifesto - developing the dollar into a reserve currency, reforming the economic sector and ending the war. Due to these points of the manifesto, the price of gold started to decline. But it could not be done accordingly. When Trump changed the tax policy, there was a big stir in the international market," Shakya said. "When America added customs duties on China, China also added America. What will happen next, there is still confusion, due to the bad impact in the economic sector, the price of gold fluctuated.'
It is also said that when the dollar is weak, people are rushing to gold for safe investment. Shakya argues that this has also increased the price of gold in the international market. Businessmen say that the Nepali market has also become unstable due to the instability seen in the international market. They say that the market is slow due to the fluctuations in prices.
Currently commercial banks are allowed to import gold according to the quota system. Banks get to sell 20 kg of gold per day. To sell that gold, the government has also made 'Gold Sale and Distribution Procedure/Guideline 2068'. According to the
procedure, importers (banks) get 0.5 percent and traders get 0.5 percent (1 percent each for banks and traders). Then 0.2 to 0.5 percent is added to the price as premium charge (fred charge, insurance). Similarly, 10 percent customs duty is charged.
is priced based on international market prices and regulatory rates. But they say that gold is not sold at the price set by the federation. As the price of gold started to increase, the general public started coming to sell gold, according to businessmen. "Now the market is in a state of ruin, the gold of businessmen has not been sold. There has also been an increase in the number of common people coming to sell,'' said a businessman, 'now it is not possible to buy jewelry for common people even at a cheap price of 10,000 per tola. Pricing is being done on the basis of demand and supply.'
