Pakistan’s first formal company dedicated to offline and online gold trading was inaugurated on Tuesday.
Zakriya Gold, operating under the Zakriya Group umbrella, aims to generate about Rs2.5 trillion ($8 billion) in revenues for the national exchequer in five years.
The company claims it will provide transparent and regulated gold trading services through both online platforms and an extensive network of labs and franchises nationwide.
Gold buying and selling is not fully regulated in Pakistan and this gives way to speculative trading, under and over-invoicing, tax evasion, and black marketing.
Chairman of Zakriya Group Muhammad Shahid Zakriya said that at Zakriya Gold the buying and selling processes would be seamlessly integrated with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) system and closely monitored through a robust tracking system.
“The buying and selling will be integrated with the system of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the process will be monitored with a tracking system,” Zakriya told journalists at the company’s inauguration.
In an effort to bring regulation to a predominantly unregulated gold market in Pakistan, the company plans to establish thousands of gold labs ad franchises across Pakistan.
“We are planning to set up 2,300 gold labs and 820 franchises across Pakistan. Our calculation shows that Rs2,500 billion can be generated from this market within five years.”
Zakriya Gold is set to release daily gold rates in collaboration with the Pakistan Mercantile Exchange Company (PMEX), the country’s sole multi-commodity futures exchange. This approach marks a departure from the existing practice of rates being released by various traditional bodies.
The launch of Zakriya Gold follows the government’s recent crackdown on entities involved in the speculation and black marketing of gold prices within the local market.
Collaborating with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), FBR, and other law enforcement agencies, this move seeks to instill transparency and regulation in Pakistan’s gold trading sector.
The establishment has been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and PMEX.