The World Gold Council (WGC) on Monday said Dubai in 1996 came closer to displacing Singapore as the largest redistributor of gold in the world.
Dubai has been the second largest physical redistributor of gold in the world after Singapore. In 1996, it inched closer to displacing Singapore, WGC Middle East and India chief executive Rolf Schneebeli said.
With gold imports of 350 tonnes, Dubai is neck-and-neck with Singapore, which imported about 357 tonnes, he added.
The WGC said 1996 gold imports into the emirate, at 350.48 tonnes, were the highest Dubai had ever recorded. In 1995 it had imported 318.03 tonnes.
In December 1996, it imported 31.96 tonnes, an increase of 43 per cent on the 22.27 tonnes imported a year earlier. During the year Switzerland was the top exporter to Dubai,with 261.27 tonnes. The United Kingdom came next, with 69.1 tonnes, followed by South Africa with 13.41 tonnes, it said.
Most of the gold imported into Dubai is re-exported to the nearby Indian subcontinent. India is the worlds single largest gold market.
