A total 86 percent of the Arab community in the UAE considers gold to be safe and/or useful investment option as compared to the 56 percent earlier, according to a survey.

The survey was conducted by Western Union and was compared with non-Arab expatriates, who remained at 88 percent in both cases.

The consumer survey was also conducted in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar in conjunction with its ongoing promotion which offers 160 Western Union customers, across five countries, a chance to win gold.

Sobia Rahman, Western Union’s regional vice president for the Gulf, Pakistan and Afghanistan said: “For thousands of years, gold has been utilised as both a form of currency and an investment. However, concerns about the slowing economic growth and Europe's debt crisis have created a demand for gold as an investment instrument in the recent past.”

“This combined with the high remittance activity in the UAE owing to the large expatriate population, has resulted in a tremendous response to our promotion which gives customers an opportunity to win up to eight kg of gold,” he said.

According to the survey results, while only 52 percent of the Arab respondents personally invested in gold, 97 percent of this group purchased gold up to three times a year and 80 percent invested up to 10 percent of their savings.

On the other hand, a 70 percent of non-Arab respondents invested in gold, of which 81 percent made up to three gold purchases a year and only 72 percent invested up to 10 percent of their savings.

He said that another interesting insight from the survey was that, of the total respondents in the UAE who invested in gold, 11 percent purchased gold four or more times a year and over 26 percent invested more than 10 percent of their savings.

“These numbers are a clear indication of the attitude towards investment planning, something which wasn’t as prevalent previously in the UAE and the region. This growing trend and inclination towards saving and investing, augurs well for the stability of the economy,” he said. – TradeArabia News Service