Pakistan's Cabinet Seeks Approval for Gold Value-Addition Revision
The Commerce Minister in Pakistan has directed his ministry to seek cabinet approval for revising the value-addition mechanism (VAM) linked to international gold prices.
This move comes after a meeting between stakeholders, including the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), where they discussed issues faced by the gold jewellery industry.
The Gems and Jewellery sector raised three major issues, with one being the revision of value addition for value-added gold products. Arif Patel, representative of Golden Arts Manufacturers and Exporters of Artistic Gold Jewelry, argued that since the SRO 760(I)/2013 was issued in 2013, gold prices had increased significantly from approximately USD 1,380 per ounce to around USD 5,100 per ounce, an increase of about 400 percent.
Patel proposed fixing value addition on a per-gram basis rather than as a percentage of the value of gold. Stakeholders agreed that the value-addition mechanism needed rationalisation and proposed revising it to USD 2 for plain gold jewellery, USD 3 for plain gold chains, and USD 5 for studded gold jewellery.