Coronavirus pandemic saw major rise in gold purchases

During the coronavirus pandemic the amount of gold purchases rose by hundreds of percentage points in the Czech Republic, the country’s leading gold dealers told the Czech News Agency on Wednesday, although they refused to release specific data.

Currently, the price of gold on world markets is around USD 1,720 for a troy ounce. In mid-May the price reached a seven year high of USD 1,765 per ounce.

According to gold dealers the high demand for gold and silver caused a shortage of the metals offered on markets. Furthermore, nearly half of the world production of gold bars, some 1,500 tons, is based in the Swiss canton of Ticino, where refineries of precious metals were closed from March 20. This two to three month interruption has resulted in severely limiting the amount of gold that is on sale, David Marášek, the statutory director of Zlato.cz which focuses on gold sales, told the Czech News Agency.