The global gold market has lost about 60% of its value since the start of the year.
This has led to Greece being the world’s fourth-worst gold-producing country behind Russia, China and Brazil.
As a result, the Greek economy is in a very bad position and its gold prices are in freefall.
“There is a lot of anxiety about Greece’s gold price, which is the main driver of the Greek debt crisis,” said Alex Zengel, a senior gold strategist at Riggs Bank.
“There are a lot more people who are not holding their gold in Greece.”
Gold prices are down by about 60pc since June.
Gold traders, however, are not in a panic.
There is some evidence that Greece is beginning to regain some of the lost ground, with a rally in the price of gold and platinum since the beginning of this year, said Andreas Schilder, senior gold analyst at IG Farben.
However, even with a relatively small rally in gold, gold prices remain vulnerable to geopolitical developments.
The gold market was one of the biggest drivers of the euro crisis and Greece’s government has already been blamed for its decision to allow its banks to be recapitalised.
In the wake of the crisis, the gold market suffered a massive sell-off, with gold prices falling by 80pc from June 2016.
Gold prices have recovered slightly since then, but it is still below its 2016 peak.
Greek officials have also been blamed by many economists for their failure to act on the gold price rally.
The country has been forced to borrow large amounts of money to pay for imports, as it has been unable to pay back debt to the IMF and European Central Bank.
But despite the debt-related problems, the country’s gold market still has a lot going for it, according to Zengl.
Gold markets in the United States and China have also fallen by about 30pc since the crisis started, he said.
This year, gold is expected to trade at $1,225 an ounce on the Comex, up from the $1 of last year.
In a sign that gold prices may be stabilising, the price is expected increase by 10pc in the next year.
Source: MTV News