December 3, 2002	Tuesday	Ramazan 27,1423

KARACHI, Dec 2: Demand for gold in Pakistan continued to rise in contrast to India in third quarter, being almost one third (up 32 per cent year-on-year) higher than the depressed level of a year earlier.

The price of Pak rupee stabilized after climbing through much of the year while the economy remained relatively buoyant, says a press release of World Gold Council (WGC).

As in India, a higher than normal level of purchases was funded by exchange and selling back for cash was also high.

The liberalization of the Pakistani market (gold import no longer be restricted to licensed importers) should help to improve the market in the longer term. In addition the National Commodity Exchange Limited is due to start operating in December with gold the product to be traded. This will be the first step towards a more sophisticated investment environment for gold, WGC says.