Industry federations deny halting buying, selling gold

In a joint statement circulated on local media early on Saturday, the General Division for Gold and Jewellery at FEDCOC and the jewellery and precious metals section of FEI said the process of buying and selling gold has not stopped at any of the jewellery stores nationwide.

The statement added that reports regarding the lack of transparency in gold pricing are “unfounded” and have been issued by a fictitious and unknown company that is not registered by the FEI or FEDCOC’s relevant divisions.

The pricing of gold in Egypt is subject to supply and demand mechanisms and is set based on the global prices of gold per ounce at stock exchanges.

The federations warned that “such rumours aim to harm the Egyptian economy” and vowed legal measures against those spreading false information in this regard.

A statement attributed to a company named ‘El-Eman’ that was released on Friday caused widespread controversy in Egypt, as it called on jewellers to stop buying and purchasing gold “until gold prices can be controlled based on the directives of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).”