Gold price settles at Rs206,500 per tola in Pakistan.
It jumps after rupee’s historic decline against dollar.
Gold rate Rs3,000 per tola “undercost” in Pakistan.
Following a historic decline of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar, the per tola gold price in Pakistan surged by a whopping 4.77% as investors’ attention once again diverted towards the precious commodity considered as an inflation hedge.
According to All-Pakistan Sarafa Gems and Jewellers Association (APSGJA), the price of gold (24 carats) surged by Rs9,400 per tola and Rs8,058 per 10 grams to settle at Rs206,500 and Rs177,040, respectively.
The massive increase in the price of gold came on after the rupee plunged by nearly Rs19, or 6.66%, against the US dollar to close at 285.09 against the dollar in the interbank market.
The price of gold is Rs3,000 per tola “undercost” in Pakistan, as compared to the Dubai market, showing that the Pakistani gold market was currently cheaper than the global.
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.
Cumulatively, the precious commodity gained Rs12,400 per tola in the last three sessions reversing the prevailing trend recorded last week — when gold lost Rs1,900 per tola.
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, silver prices in the domestic market jumped by Rs120 per tola and Rs102.88 Rs2,200 per tola and Rs1,886.14 per 10 grams, respectively.
Gold prices broke a winning run on Thursday, weighed down by a firmer dollar and bullion’s outlook remains clouded by prospects of further interest rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve. The per-ounce price settled at $1,837 after an increase of $27.
While gold is considered a hedge against inflation, recent central bank rate hikes to bring down price pressures have weighed on the appetite for the metal since it yields no interest.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will release its monetary policy on Monday.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the SBP will convene on the first day of the following week to make decisions on monetary policy.
The Monetary Policy decision will be announced by Governor SBP Jameel Ahmad at a news conference on the same day after the MPC meeting, according to an official release.
In December, the central bank reduced policy rates by 200 basis points (bps) to 13 percent.
“In November 2024, headline inflation fell to 4.9 percent year on year, meeting the MPC’s estimates. This decrease was mostly caused by the ongoing decline in food inflation and the phasing out of the impact of the gas tariff increase in November 2023,” SBP stated in an official release.
“However, the Committee noted that core inflation, at 9.7 percent, is proving to be sticky, while consumer and business inflation expectations remain volatile.” To that end, the Committee restated its previous assessment that inflation may remain volatile in the short term before stabilizing within the target range.
“At the same time, growth prospects have slightly improved, as evidenced by a recent increase in high-frequency indicators of economic activity.” Overall, the Committee concluded that its approach of gradual policy rate decreases is keeping inflationary and external account pressures under control while promoting long-term economic growth.
During his attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has met with officials of organisations and leaders of many nations. Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor, Muhammad Younas, met with Mohammad Aurangzeb. On the fringes of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2025 Opening Banquet, there was an informal meeting. Additionally, the Finance Minister met with Anwar Ibrahim, the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Both leaders discussed economic cooperation and bilateral ties. Muhammad Aurangzeb also had a meeting with Dp World’s Rizwan Soomro and Yuvraj Narayan. They talked about how to strengthen Pakistan’s logistics and infrastructure systems to support trade. “The Pakistani government is committed to advancing joint projects and values partnerships in both business-to-business and business-to-government cooperation,” the finance minister added.