By: Mahmoud Gamal
Dubai – Mubasher: Gold prices increased by 1.3% in the UAE at the end of the first week of 2018 due to the imposing of the value-added tax (VAT), which slowed down the demand.
The price of 22-karat gold reached AED 142.82, while 21-k and 18-karat prices grew AED 1.73 to AED 136.33 and AED 1.48 to AED 116.85, respectively, according to Mubasher’s data.
The levying of the VAT, along with the end of the tourism season resulted in a decrease in gold demand, analysts told Mubasher.
Consumers of gold delayed their transactions to observe the VAT’s impact on the market, said Rajab Hamed, commodities analyst at Sabayik Al Kuwait Company.
The decline in tourists' number and the end of gold’s yearly season had a negative effect on the demand, Hamed noted.
Gold bars and coins sales are expected to be sluggish, while more increase in the yellow metal’s prices is likely to happen, the analyst concluded.
Translated by: Muhammad Khalid
