Prime Minister Prayut urges people save their gold

Thailand’sPrime Minister, Prayut chan-o-cha, has asked the public to be patient and not to trade in all their gold at once.

Due to gold prices rising to a new high, surges of people are scrambling to sell their precious metals to collect money in this time of crisis.

It has now got to the point that gold shops around the country are running out of cash because too many people are cashing in their gold.

“I’m asking people to sell slowly, not in large quantities, as shops may face a cash crunch.”

The yellow metal has historically been a common way for Thais to save money. But a spike in global prices has forced many to sell.

People are trying to collect cash because the recession caused by the virus resulted in substantial job losses and pay cuts.

Prime Minister, Prayut says…

“Officials are trying to establish a gold store strategy to deal with the large number of sellers. Thailand has been partly locked down to curb the disease until at least the end of April. But some companies that are deemed important remain open.”

‘sales up to 200 million baht’

The president of the Gold Traders Association and owner Hua Heng Goldsmith, Jitti Tangsithpakdi, says…

“The sales of his company alone totalled 200 million Baht.”

“Don’t unload gold all at once because huge amounts can amount to a hundred billion baht and no goldsmith can withstand that selling pressure.”

Some goldsmiths have been forced to stop operations because they were worried about cash shortages.

The bullion of the gold sold has been for-profit, according to Jitti.

In Thailand, the price of gold has risen by 6,000 per baht weight (15,1 grams). In addition, the weakness of the baht against the US dollar has forced local sellers to wind up.

SOURCE: Bloomberg |Bangkok Post

Stay updated with Samui Times by following us on Facebook.