04:49 PM
Sunday 17 May 2020
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I wrote – Sherine Salah:
The recession continues to dominate the gold jewelery market in Egypt due to the emerging Corona virus crisis and the accompanying measures, even with the recent days that mark the beginning of a season that witnessed an annual boom in a year other than this year due to the popularity of marriage and the wedding contract.
The Corona crisis and its accompanying measures caused the decline in the purchasing movement in gold stores since last March, as these developments led to the closure of wedding halls and the imposition of curfews on citizens in the evening and night hours, which also prompted some to postpone his wedding or complete his marriage project.
But some gold merchants are hoping, as they told Masrawy, that the market will move somewhat after Eid Al-Fitr, after the measures announced by the government today destroyed any hopes for the return of the engagement or marriage contract on the Eid, even if with precautionary measures.
The government decided today to advance the date of banning the walking of citizens to five in the evening, with the closure of shops and restaurants in the week of Eid from next Sunday to Friday after next.
Ihab Wasfi, deputy head of the gold division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, told Masrawy that the Corona crisis affected the gold sales since the beginning of this year, and that the market is currently suffering from recession.
Wasfi mentioned that the gold market for merchants is divided into 4 sections, namely, the engagement season, the Mother’s Day season, the success seasons, and the regular purchase, but the Corona crisis hit all these seasons this year, which resulted in declining sales.
Club Naguib, Secretary General of the Gold Division of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, said that the markets were supposed to move with the approach of the feast, which is considered a season for engagement and wedding occasions, but a calm situation still dominates the market until now,
Naguib said that the market during the same period last year was witnessing a boom and an increase in sales, which is what the market lacks this year from the repercussions of the Corona crisis.
Perhaps the prices would bear another blow to the markets, coinciding with the crisis in Corona, as the market witnessed a jump, due to the impact of the global price of the metal, which rose to its highest level in 7 years.
According to Naguib, the price of a gram of 21 carat gold today reached 757 pounds.
The price of a gram of 18 carat gold is about 649 pounds, 24 carats are about 865 pounds, and the gold pound is about 6056 pounds.
Merchants hope that the sales of the gold market will move after the Eid, especially with the return of allowing citizens to move until eight o’clock in the evening for a period of two weeks, then life will gradually return to normal.
Naguib said, earlier to Masrawy, that the evening hours were the peak of gold sales in Egypt before the curfew. “Customers in normal times before the ban accept buying from six o’clock until ten in the evening.”
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