DUBAI, Jan 7: Saudi Arabia gold sales rose almost 17 per cent in volume and 30 per cent in value in 2007 from the previous year as the economy of the world’s largest oil exporter expanded, a World Gold Council (WGC) official said on Monday.

According to our preliminary estimates, gold demand in Saudi rose by almost 17 per cent volume and 30 per cent in value in 2007 compared to the previous year, and I think the market still looks positive, he told Reuters in an interview.

Four of the seven Gulf Arab stock benchmarks dropped more than 35 per cent in 2006.

Last year’s demand in the United Arab Emirates, a seven-member federation that includes Dubai and Abu Dhabi, increased by almost 12 pc in volume and 20 pc in value from the year before as tourism grew, Barakat said.

Increasing demand from tourists lifted the market, and if Dubai, the heart of the UAE, was not affected by volatile prices in September and October, we would have seen better figures.

Dubai is a long-established market for gold bullion and wholesale and retail jewellery, where the trade is fuelled by strong demand from the Arab world and India, the world’s top gold market.

Record gold prices, coupled with a 6 per cent drop in Dubai’s gold sales value in October, have deepened anxieties among traders that the Gulf Arab emirate may lose its lustre as a regional gold hub.

The market recovered as we approached December, and we had also a strong demand from India, which is the sailor of the gold market, Barakat said.

World gold prices rocketed more than 30 pc in 2007, hitting an all-time high a week ago.

Gulf Arab and Western tourists visit the UAE to shop for discounted, tax-free luxury goods in huge shopping malls and the gold souk.

Regional gold producers expanding their manufacturing capacity and sales campaigns in Egypt have significantly boosted demand in the Arab world’s most populous country, he said. —Reuters