Gold price hits all-time high of Rs 195,500 per tola

As the Pakistani rupee plunged to a record low against the dollar, domestic gold prices hit an all-time high of Rs195,500 per tola after gaining Rs4,900 on Thursday. According to the All Sindh Sarafa Jewellers Association (ASSJA), the 10-gram rate of the yellow metal jumped Rs4,201 to Rs167,610. Further, the rate in the international market jumped to $1,936 after an increase of $11. The development comes as the rupee plunged to a record low of Rs255.43 against the dollar in the interbank market today, sliding Rs24.54 or 9.61 per cent from yesterday’s close, after the removal of an unofficial price cap on the exchange rate. Ismail Iqbal Securities’ Head of Research Fahad Rauf said it was the largest single-day decline in both absolute and percentage terms since the introduction of the new exchange rate system in 1999. ASSJA Chairman Haji Haroon Rasheed Chand said gold prices were seeing the effects of the increase in the dollar rate.