Gold price highest during Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial

by Myo Thein
Monday, 01 June 2009 19:16

Rangoon (Mizzima) – The price of gold has been unstable in Rangoon ever since Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial began and was at its highest on May 26.

In the first two months of 2009, the price of gold was stable at about Kyat 500,000 per tical (about 16 gm). It climbed slowly from the second week of March. The price of gold touched the highest point at Kyat 550,000 on May 26 (Tuesday) when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi gave her testimony in court inside the Insein prison precincts.

“When the market opened on Tuesday, the price climbed by about Kyat 8,000 even though the world gold price was stable on the day. We experience similar fluctuations whenever there is an unstable political situation,” a gold merchant from Latha, Rangoon said.

On that day the price of gold was the highest at Kyat 555,500 in the morning but dropped to Kyat 548,000 in the evening when gold merchants sold their stock in bulk.

“The price of gold has been unstable since Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested. It has been on the rise since and shows no sign of abating. Normally gold prices rise in the range of Kyat 1,000 to 2,000. If the price hike is between Kyat 3,000 to 4,000, it is felt to be unstable. The market becomes unpredictable then,” a trader in gold for about 15 years said.

“We have witnessed such a situation before with the price rising by Kyat 10,000 when the political situation became volatile. Though we saw a fall in gold price at the end of last month, I think, it will rise again,” the trader added.

The price of gold peaked on May 26 and dropped slightly. It fluctuated between Kyat 540,000 to 545,000 till May 29.