DUBAI, Aug 25: Dubai gold sales rose 33 per cent in value in July compared with the year-ago period despite higher prices as buyers grew accustomed to the greater costs, an industry executive said on Saturday.

The prices remain very good for the customers and we are attracting new buyers every day, Tawhid Abdullah, managing director of the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group, told Reuters.

I think we will be able to match the 33 per cent increase we saw in July this month. The value of gold sales rose 40pc on the year in the second quarter and 35 per cent in the first half of the year.

Sales will remain strong in the third quarter of the year and they will be very high in the fourth quarter as we approach the end of Ramadan and the (Dubai) Shopping Festival, Abdullah said.

Ramadan, which starts around Sept. 13, is a month of fasting for devout Muslims and ends with a feast when many couples marry.

Some local traders feared gold sales volume in the United Arab Emirates could fall by about 10 per cent in volume in 2007, as they did in the previous year due to both volatile and high prices. But industry executives said the regional appetite for gold remains strong despite the relatively high prices.

In May 2006, spot gold bullion hit a 26-year high of $730 an ounce. It closed at $667.90/668.70 an ounce in Europe on Friday.

Tax-free jewellery in the UAE’s gold souks and shopping malls draws Gulf Arab and Western tourists.

The Gulf Arab region’s economies grew about 7 per cent in 2006, driven by high oil prices, bringing with it increasing appetite for jewellery.---Reuters