The price of 21-karat gold reached LE 3,110 in jewelry stores across Egypt.
The global price of gold has been rising steadily recently with the biggest increase coming amid rising demand for safe havens in financial markets due to ongoing geopolitical tensions.
Widespread selling of global stocks and investors hedging against inflation, which appear to be on the rise again in the US, are also contributing factors.
Local prices continue to fluctuate without a clear trend due to the decline in seasonal demand during the month of Ramadan, despite the limited increase in the official exchange rate in banks during Wednesday’s session, which pushed the price to stabilize and ignore the sharp changes in the global gold ounce price.
The Egyptian government has been raising taxes on gold in recent years in an attempt to discourage investment in gold.
The World Gold Council (WGC) estimates that Egypt holds about 120 tons of gold reserves.
The WGC has called on the Egyptian government to take further steps to reduce investment in gold, such as increasing taxes on gold and banning gold-backed investments.
