KARACHI, June 27 (ABC): Gold recovered its shine once again in Pakistan after it gained Rs850 per tola on Monday in line with the international market prices as the US currency strengthened further against the rupee.
The price per tola gold settled at Rs141,850, while with an increase of Rs729 per 10 grams, the price settled at Rs121,614.
Meanwhile, in the international market, the gold price gained $6 per ounce to settle at $1,833 as the dollar weakened and economic concerns persisted, while an import ban on the metal from Russia by four of the G7 countries also supported prices to some extent.
Gold rates in Pakistan are around Rs3,000 below cost compared to the gold rate in the Dubai market.
Silver prices in the domestic market remained unchanged at Rs1,560 per tola and Rs1,337.44 per 10 grams today.
Gold dealers across Pakistan raised concerns after Finance Minister Miftah Ismail imposed fixed income, sales tax on small gold shops.
On Friday, Miftah announced that a fixed income and sales tax worth Rs40,000 has been imposed on the gold shops that cover an area of less than 300 square feet so that all gold shops come into the tax radar.
Meanwhile, 17% sales tax has been reduced to 3% for shops covering an area of more than 300 square feet (and falling under tier-1) as such higher tax can never be received from jewellery markets.
Moreover, the withholding tax of 4% has been brought down to 1% for local consumers who sell gold in the markets.
However, the market players rejected the revision in taxes and warned to go on strike if the decision wasn’t reconsidered.