The price for the 18-karat gram rose by EGP 81 to reach EGP 1,564, while the 14-carat gram rose by EGP 63.5 to reach EGP 1,220.

The price of the 21-karat gram hit a record high of EGP 1,630 in December, up from EGP 1,054 in August.

Before the Russian-Ukrainian war, the 21-karat sold for EGP 1,013 per gram.

According to experts, the increase in gold prices locally is due to high demand, as is the increase in the US dollar exchange rate versus the Egyptian pound, where the dollar climbed to its all-time high against the Egyptian pound to EGP 29.7 on Wednesday.

Earlier in March, following the start of the war in February, the Egyptian pound plunged to its lowest value in nearly five years against the US dollar, trading at EGP 18.1 for buying and EGP 18.2 for selling, down from EGP 15.6 and EGP 15.7. 

The increase in gold prices locally comes after the release of the IMF staff report on Tuesday on Egypt’s new loan programme, which entails greater flexibility of the exchange rate.

Globally, the gold ounce recorded $1,884 today, a 6 percent increase of $12 over yesterday’s price of $1,874.

The hike in global gold prices comes after the regression of the dollar index due to consumer optimism that the US Fed may not raise interest rates in the upcoming review at the end of the current month.