WGC Middle East expects a gold buying rush

The World Gold Council (WGC) Middle East Office has explained that it expects gold buying across Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) to surge this month.

Demand for the precious metal is set to surge during the holy festival of Ramadan and the Eid Al Fitr in September, with locals, ex-pats and tourists all expected to contribute to sales.

With the upcoming religious festivals and wedding season in India falling in October, a combination of the two could see gold prices begin an upturn at the end of the year and into 2009.

Lama Al Saheb, PR and project manager for WGC Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan, said: "We observe that gold sales increase across the GCC far more substantially in September than at any other time of the year."

The WGC's comments come on the back of recent data which show that gold sales increased by 20 per cent in the United Arab Emirates during the second quarter.

Furthermore, gold sales value shot up by 14 per cent in Saudi Arabia, while Egypt recorded a huge sales value growth of 48 per cent and a ten per cent increase in gold demand.

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