It could a year or two before UAE s gold and jewellery demand rises to pre-COVID-19 levels gulfnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gulfnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Dubai: It could be another year before gold and jewellery buying in the UAE returns anywhere close to pre-pandemic levels, according to senior industry sources, who cite the lack of Indian and Saudi visitors as the main reason.
Since March 2020, demand for gold in Dubai’s Gold Souq and other jewellery shopping destinations in the UAE was primarily driven by resident shoppers. With COVID-19 still imposing limits on flights and road trips, buying remains subdued, with jewellery sales in the second quarter well below the five-year average, according to the latest numbers from London-based World Gold Council.
Pre-COVID-19, tourist buying made up around 30-40 per cent of gold and jewellery sales in the UAE. Anil Dhanak of Kanz Jewels says the return of tourists from India and the Subcontinent will need time to rebuild, as well as of Saudi shoppers. “Their return will not happen overnight – vaccinations will need to do their bit to make flying a far easier experience than it is now
When Vajubhai Dhanak, a goldsmith from Gujarat landed in Dubai in 1958, his family had a debt of Rs5,000. Vajubhai worked in Dubai as a goldsmith at a salary of Rs500, before returning to his home country with the family. Years later his son Anil Vajubhai would return and start his own jewellery shop in Dubai. Anil went on to live his late father’s dreams and built Kanz Jewels, a multi-million dollar jewellery line in Dubai. We talked to Anil Vajubhai Dhanak of Kanz Jewels about how his family struck it rich over the years and became part of the UAE Success Story.
5% slash in customs duty could trigger dip in gold, silver prices
Joydeep Sen Gupta/Dubai
Reuters
India, which had raised the duty from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent in July 2019, imports bulk of its gold and silver requirements.
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that the Narendra Modi government would cut customs duty on gold and silver jewelleries and goods from 12.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent.
India, which had raised the duty from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent in July 2019, imports bulk of its gold and silver requirements.
In her budget 2021 proposals, Sitharaman said prices of precious metals have risen sharply and the government would like to rationalise customs duty on gold and silver.