World economic problems cause a drop in Thailand's gold prices

BANGKOK, June 22 (TNA) - Thailand's Gold Traders Association has attributed a plung in gold prices on the domestic market currently to economic problems in the United States and Europe. The association's President Jit-ti Tang-sit-phak-di said on Friday that the domestic gold prices have fallen by 400 baht per baht weight (15 grams) while the world gold prices have dropped by 51 US dollars an ounce as of today, after the US Federal Reserve did not introduce the third quantitative easing scheme (QE3), which has disappointed global money and capital markets and caused a fear that the ongoing debt crisis in Europe will slow down the world economy. As the Bank of Thailand (BOT) has told local commercial banks to monitor business transactions of importers and exporters who base their transactions on foreign exchange rates, Jitti acknowledged that Thailand's imports and holding of gold are now at risk because gold prices are fluctuating and speculators may face losses, and that the transactions of local traders of gold bars have, however, remained normal.(TNA)