DOHA: Gold prices jumped to a record high yesterday as a gram of pure or 24-carat yellow metal was selling at an incredible QR128 in the local market.

“In my 30 years of having been in this trade in Doha I have never seen this price. This is the highest so far,” said Muzammil Hanif from Al Fardan Exchange, which deals in bullion and gold and diamond jewellery.

Surprisingly, though, the skyrocketing prices of the precious metal did not deter buyers from lapping up gold. The soaring rates have rather increased demand for the yellow metal.

“There is too much demand,” said a salesman from the popular gold and diamond jewellery chain, Damas. “Business is brisk.”

When the prices go up, so does the demand because people think the rates would continue to stay on the upward curve, explained Muzammil Hanif.

According to Damas, 22-carat gold, of which jewellery is mostly made, was selling at QR122.5 — also a record — while 18-carat gold, which Filipinos mostly prefer for jewellery, was available for QR117.

The Damas official was quick to point out that making charges for gold jewellery average QR10 per gram. “Nevertheless, there is no dearth of buyers,” he added.

Reminiscing, Muzammil Hanif told The Peninsula that he remembered that around 1982 gold became quite expensive as the rates touched almost $846 an ounce, or QR99 per gram in the local market.

“I am talking of 27 years ago, and I vividly remember that due to speculative activity in the global markets, gold and silver had suddenly become quite expensive,” said Muzammil Hanif. This was some three years after he had come to Doha from Pakistan to work for Al Fardan.

Gold has always been in high demand in Qatar, with both citizens and expatriates, especially South Asians.

Its prices have fluctuated dramatically, and from 2001 onwards they have been soaring, so much so that from under QR4,000, the price of a standard 24-carat 116-gram bar had yesterday touched QR15,025.

But as the purchasing power of the nationals has been going up, the demand for not only gold but also expensive diamond jewellery has been going up.

In international markets, the price of gold surged to a record peak of $1,095.80 an ounce in trading yesterday in the wake of the International Monetary Fund’s sale of 200 tonnes of the precious metal to India.

After spiking to a new high at 1545 GMT, gold later pulled back to $1,090 in London.