Market price for gold hits record high, widening disparity with junta’s fixed price

Amid volatile market conditions, the price for a tical of 24-carat gold has climbed to an all-time high of 9.7 million kyat (US $2,450) in Myanmar, according to sellers. “With prices rising so fast, the expectation is that gold will soon reach 10 million kyat per tical. The last time the price surged, it didn’t even reach nine million,” the owner of a Yangon gold shop said. “This is a record.” The market price for a 24-carat tical (0.576 ounces) has increased more than sevenfold since just before the military coup in January 2021, when it stood at 1.32 million kyat. As of Tuesday, the market prices for 24- and 23-carat ticals of gold are both more than three million kyat higher than the price set by the country’s military junta. The junta has continued to impose a fixed price despite the recent surge in the global gold price to more than $4,600 per ounce (1.74 tical). According to traders and shop employees, military authorities have been conducting surprise inspections and arresting gold sellers for noncompliance with official pricing. The regime’s administrators, usually joined on the inspection rounds by personnel from the junta-controlled Ministry of Mines, visit gold shops to question employees and examine business licences, receipts, and tax records. “Gold shops are now functioning more as pawnbrokers than as sellers,” said a woman who runs a gold shop. “At the small shops they only get a few customers buying small items like earrings for around 300,000–400,000 kyat [US $76 to $101] per month, since most people can’t afford gold at these prices.” She added that even if she chose to close her shop, she would still be subject to the ministry’s unannounced inspections and might face prosecution for selling at the market price. This also disincentivises documenting sales with receipts, heightening the risk of disputes with buyers. “We only tell the market price to people we trust. If we reveal it to strangers—or undercover ministry staff—it could be the end of us,” she said. Myanmar’s military junta detained some two dozen gold traders in April and May 2024, alleging that they had conducted unlicensed transactions and contributed to instability in the gold market.

Market price for gold hits record high, widening disparity with junta’s fixed price

Gold merchants said they were wary of military authorities, who have been conducting surprise inspections to ensure compliance with prices set by the regime

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