Even though international gold price went through nominal fluctuations, the price of yellow metal stood firm at new high this week as gold dealers forced consumers to pay more, citing short supply of gold in the market. [break]
Currency
Nepali rupee weakened by 45 paisa this week, rendering imports expensive and income of exports as remittances receivers go up. On Friday, rupee was valued Rs 75.25 per US dollar.
Nepal Rastra Bank, country´s monetary authority, had fixed the exchange rate of a US dollar at Rs 74.8 on Sunday. As the greenback witnessed nominal rise in demand in India, rupee shed 15 paisa on Monday.
On Tuesday, however, rupee gained 5 paisa against a dollar and this exchange rate, which was fixed at Rs 74.90 per US dollar, remained unchanged till Thursday. On Friday, rupee witnessed a sharp depreciation of 35 paisa per US dollar, as the greenback bounced back when the market closed this week.
Nepali rupee gained 16 paisa against a euro, but shed 87 paisa against a pound sterling this week. On Friday, a euro was exchanged at Rs 95.7, while the value of a pound sterling was fixed at Rs 117.19.
Bullion
The price of gold remained firm at the all time high almost throughout the week. As the price, which was fixed at Rs 31,295 per 10 grams, was higher than the actual international rates, consumers were forced to pay additional Rs 100 per gram of yellow metal than the international market.
Gold dealers attributed this undue rise in prices to short supply of gold in the market and blamed the central bank´s restrictive policy to supply just 10 kg of gold in the market every day. “With festivals like Teej approaching fast, we need at least 20 kg to meet the demand,” said Tej Ratna Shakya, president of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers´ Association.
Moreover, the gold market remained closed for the first four days of the week, mainly as dealers launched strike protesting Nepal Rastra Bank´s new step to prevent undue flow of gold in the market.
The dealers resumed trading from Thursday. However, they continued to fix prices on the basis of demand pressure. Previously, prices used to be fixed on the basis of prices set by the gold importer banks.
The price of silver too jumped to Rs 499 per 10 grams this week.
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