Egyptian gold vendors have stopped their sales, fearing the further escalation of political tension, according to Wasfy Amin, the head of the gold division in the chamber of commerce. "Trade was halted since Friday, 28 June, and products were removed from window displays for security reasons," he said. Amin indicated that several precautions were taken to assure that the safety of vendors and their shops would not be compromised. "Instructions were given to all gold traders and shop owners to put their gold in safes and to increase the level of security at their shops." A branch manager in Nasr city, who preferred to remain anonymous, confirmed that he was staying in his gold shop to protect his products. "We are fearful of how the events will turnout. During the 2011 revolution, we neither felt safe nor secure and we had to shut down all our branches for more than a month. As a result, our yearly revenue shrunk by 25%," he said. The worldwide gold market witnessed a sharp price decline since 17 June; average prices of the 24k ounce decreasing to EGP 8977.04 in 19 June. Additional decreases followed, and prices reached EGP 8431.33 on 27 June. Shortly after, prices slightly increased and then stabilised to EGP 8676.23 on 1 July. Amin explained that there is no correlation between the internal political tension and price fluctuations; "The price decrease is on a global level and it followed the American government's announcement that it will not be trading government bonds."
