June 9, 2024
Due to recent government crackdowns and warnings of severe penalties for not adhering to fixed prices, some gold shops in Yangon have temporarily closed. Meanwhile, those that remain open are experiencing long queues of customers looking to purchase gold. Many shops are limiting their sales to crafted gold jewelry rather than raw gold bars and ingots.
One social media user posted on June 8, “I’ve seen people line up for cooking oil and fuel, but now they are lining up at gold shops.” The people queuing at these shops are primarily investors looking to protect their wealth, though some small-scale gold traders are reportedly hiring people to buy gold on their behalf.
“We’ve never sold raw gold bars or ingots. As a small gold shop, we’ve always sold crafted gold jewelry. Labor costs and exchange fees remain the same as before. The rush to buy gold is mostly at shops selling raw gold bars. Customers at our shop are those who don’t want to keep large amounts of cash,” a gold shop owner in Insein Township told New Day Myanmar.
Another resident said, “I’ve heard that Aung Thamadi is open, and all the big shops in Latha are open. You can’t buy raw gold bars like before, but you can still get crafted jewelry. Gold prices were around 1.5 million MMK per tical in 2021, but in May this year, they skyrocketed to nearly 6 million MMK. As a regular homeowner, I want to buy gold and hope the prices drop,” a marketing employee and homeowner told New Day Myanmar.
On June 9, the price of gold in Myanmar stood at over 4.78 million MMK per tical, down from a peak of over 5.8 million MMK on May 30. Due to the surge in gold prices, there were reports that several gold shop owners, including those of Aung Thamadi and Zaw Htet, were arrested. However, the Yangon Region Gold Entrepreneurs Association (YGEA) denied these claims on their social media page on June 9.
Furthermore, on June 3, following an unauthorized sales exhibition of Thai condos at the Sedona Hotel in Yangon, several individuals involved in buying and selling condos were arrested. Reports emerged that Yoma Group owner Serge Pun and eight directors were detained for questioning over financial transactions facilitated by Yoma Bank.
Additionally, 39 hundi operators engaged in large-scale currency trading, including US dollars and Thai baht, were also arrested. Their mobile money accounts were frozen, and assets were seized. While unconfirmed reports suggest that some gold merchants’ shops and homes were confiscated, the junta has not officially commented on these actions.
The Central Bank of Myanmar, under the junta’s control, announced that from January to May, it sold over USD 176 million, THB 1.5 billion, and CNY 40 million through online trading platforms for import and export businesses.
