Investors could initiate a request for physical delivery to a broker as soon as their investment amount becomes equivalent to 10 tolas of gold. PHOTO: FILE
The Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX) launched the first-of-its-kind, gold-based savings product yesterday that enables small investors to buy, sell and accumulate the precious metal with ease and peace of mind.
Milli Tola Gold allows investors to purchase gold in small amounts, starting from as low as Rs50. Gold is stored in PMEX’s vaults and will be electronically tradable. Milli Tola Gold provides the option of taking physical delivery of the product as well.
Tameer Microfinance Bank Chief Executive Officer Nadeem Hussain conducted the first transaction at the PMEX premises, as his bank has partnered with the body to introduce Milli Tola Gold contracts through its Sarmaya centres.
PMEX and Tameer Microfinance Bank had signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2013 to offer a gold-based product, which would provide an opportunity to all income strata to invest in gold with trust, security and convenience.
Speaking on the occasion, PMEX Managing Director Ejaz Ali Shah said the product is available in small lot sizes, which makes it easy for people to invest in gold with cash flow ease and convenience and save it securely in PMEX’s custody.
“On one hand, it enables every Pakistani to invest in gold with convenience, security and ease of liquidity, and on the other hand, it offers a huge opportunity to PMEX brokers to expand their business by offering services to a much wider market segment,” Shah said, while adding that this could be accomplished by cultivating partners having access to the customers like credit cards and telecom companies in order to take this product to every house in Pakistan.
Hussain, while speaking about ‘Milli Tola’, said that the product will promote financial inclusion in society through small savings and investments in gold.
He said that the product had been designed to be as liquid as possible with the feature to encash investments within 24 hours.
Likewise, he added that the product allowed investors to safely store gold in PMEX’s vaults without any additional cost, while ensuring that each Milli Tola Gold contract is backed by physical delivery of gold.
“Gold is one of the most popular investment vehicles among Pakistanis. Using this product, they can start saving in gold through small lot sizes,” Hussain said, while adding that an investor could initiate a request for physical delivery to a broker as soon as their investment amount becomes equivalent to 10 tolas of gold.
Currently, the facility of physical delivery is available only in Karachi, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2013.
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Might as well buy a Rs. 3,000 microscope to view the Rs. 50 of gold while you are at it.
On another note, I hope Pakistan is taking precautions after the recent scam involving NSEL (which used to also sell eGold) in India.
@Rizwan Ahmad: ...Gold is the money. It always has been. The reason that US and even Greece is so reluctant to let go their Gold bullion holdings cuz they know that printing currency of any country is worthless unless it is backed by something intrinsic.
http://www.zerohedge.com/print/482628
regards,
Gold prices should go through the roof in 2014. No need to argue though. Only time will prove who is right.
Anyone trading in gold in 2014 will get losses as it is expected gold to easily come down to 40k per tola at the end of 2014.