'Expect gold price to be significantly higher next year'- David Tait, Chief Executive Officer, World Gold Council

World Gold Council, Chief Executive Officer, DAVID TAIT believes gold will continue to shine. During his visit to Kolkata for the India Gold Conference, he spoke in a video interview to Ishita Ayan Dutt on a wide range of issues, including the selfregulatory organisation (SRO), gold demand and prices.

The WGC initiated a process for selfregulation in India. What is the status?

The SRO is going to be an expensive thing and the WGC will fund this. We are in the process of figuring out funding for the rest of this year and coming years. It's extremely important that the industry coalesce under one body.

My vision for this is that all the other SROS that pop up around the world form a representative force at the top table for the gold industry.

When is the SRO likely to be set up?

If the formal approval for funding for 2024 comes by the end of this year, then the SRO will be up and running with people in appropriate roles by the middle of next year. The structure has been agreed within the WGC.

The documentation has been done and it looks very solid.

With respect to digital gold, have you had any discussions with the government?

No, I haven't. But digital gold plays an enormous part of my goals for several projects. First, we are trying to solve gold bullion integrity or gold bar integrity. Many of the capital hurdles and barriers that exist in the market for institutions to trade gold revolve around trust and transparency. So, solving gold bullion integrity was my starting point.