Gold traders attributed this gloom to persisting supply deficit and soaring price.[break] According to Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers´ Association (Negosida), the festival accounted for 15 to 20 percent of total gold sale last year. [break]
“This year it has fallen to less than 15 percent,” Tej Ratna Shakya, the president of Negosida, informed Republica.
“The sale during this Dashain is 25 percent less than the sales figure in the same period last year.”
Shakya said short supply of the precious metal and swelling price are the major reasons that led to decline in sale of gold ornaments.
The price of gold during last Dashain was around Rs 28,000 per tola (1 tola =11.664 grams). But the price currently hovers around Rs 38,200 per tola.
Shakya said the sale of yellow metal this year is declining because of rising prices.
The rise in prices has led to a major shift in the buying trend. The demand is very low and most of the buyers are exchanging their old ornaments with new ones.
“More than 25 percent of our total business is covered by costumers coming to exchange their old ornaments,” Shakya added.
Ravi Shrestha of Asri Jewelers at New Road echoed Shakya and said most of the buyers are buying ornaments by selling the old ones.
“Even the people with high purchasing capacity are not going for heavy ornaments. Lighter finger ring and a pendant is what people are buying at most,” Shrestha informed Republica. He further added that the sale of diamond is also similar.
Besides declining sale, dealers have another thing to worry about. There are facing difficulties in gold purchase.
“This is the first time that we are experiencing such worse days in gold business. We haven´t been able to record even five percent of the total sales that we recorded during Dashain last year,” said Nirmal Kumar Shrestha, a gold trader at New Road, said.
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