Dubai's gold industry sales rose 24 percent in February, boosted by lower prices of gold and growing tourism, the chairman of the Gold and Jewellery Group in the Gulf Arab emirate said on Wednesday. "Sales in February were up 24 percent compared with the same period last year," Tawhid Abdullah said.
"The prices were good last month and in general the gold market is healthier than last year." "By end March, sales for the first quarter will increase by more than 30 percent," he told Reuters in an interview. Abu Dhabi's gold industry sales fell 40 percent in February as high prices dampened demand, the Abu Dhabi Gold and Jewellery Group has said.
It says first quarter gold sales were expected to drop 35 percent as prices remain relatively higher than last year. Demand in the United Arab Emirates, a seven-member federation that include Dubai and Abu Dhabi, fell 9.9 percent in 2006, but demand in the fourth quarter rose 8.5 percent on the year, the World Gold Council said in a report.
Gulf Arab visitors and Westerners have poured into the UAE to shop for discounted, tax-free luxury goods in Dubai's huge shopping malls and the labyrinthine Gold Souk.