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Gold no longer attractive in Iran as demand hits yearly low

Interest in gold is no longer firm in Iran despite prices falling to year-long lows.

A senior analyst of the gold market in Iran says demand for the precious metal is at its lowest levels in a year despite falling prices.

Mohammad Kashtiaray said on Tuesday that interest in gold was no longer firm in Iran despite the fact that prices had decreased by nearly a third since September 2018.

“The (bullion) coin has lost its attractiveness for investment,” Kashtiaray told the Tasnim agency, adding, “Lack of demand for coin has caused an unprecedented slump in the market.”

Iran’s main bullion gold coin Bahar Azadi has been trading at prices near 40 million rials (above $347) over the past days, down from 55 million rials in September last year.

Lower purchases for gold, traded at 4.058 million rials per gram of 18-karat gold on Tuesday, comes a year after sanctions imposed by the United States caused a historic surge in prices of gold and major foreign currencies in Iran.

People rushed to the high street shops to buy as much as gold and US dollar they could despite the rising prices, as they feared their savings in rial would be affected.

However, one year on, the Iranian economy is far from the cataclysm that Washington had engineered through its sanctions. The national currency keeps recouping losses, even in the face of new American sanctions, while the government says it has managed to curb unemployment and inflation.

Kashtiaray suggested demand for gold may further decrease in Iran in the face of falling prices in the international markets.

He said that gold was holding ground in the Iranian market mainly because of a slight increase in the price of the US dollar and against the backdrop of reports that the greenback was rallying against rival currencies in the global markets.


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