Gold rate today in Sri Lanka

Gold per sovereign (pawn) of 8 grams

Sri Lanka prices gold per sovereign, commonly called a pawn (pawuma), which is 8 grams. Prices are quoted per sovereign for 24-carat, 22-carat and 18-carat gold, and 22-carat is the usual jewellery purity. The daily prices are those reported by traders in Colombo's Sea Street and the Pettah market; no official body sets them. Today the bare international price works out to about 348,198 LKR per sovereign of 24k and 319,193 LKR for 22k.

Hallmarks and the 22-carat import rule

Hallmarking in Sri Lanka is voluntary. The authorised assay office is the Sri Lankan Assay Office, part of the National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA), and the gold standards it lists are 999, 916, 875, 750, 585, 417, 375 and 333. Since January 2023, travellers need a special permit to bring in gold jewellery above 22 carats, a rule aimed at smuggling disguised as worn jewellery.

18% VAT and a 15% import duty

From 1 January 2024 the old VAT exemption list ended, and the Inland Revenue notice listing the exemptions still available does not include gold, jewellery or gold coins. So locally made jewellery and imported gold coins now carry 18% VAT; both were exempt before. Jewellers say they cannot offset the VAT on the gold they buy, because there is no tax invoice for it.

Gold also carries a 15% import duty, introduced in April 2018 to curb imports and smuggling. In January 2026 the NGJA chairman said import duty and related levies on gold exceed 45% in total, that formal imports had largely stopped, and that smuggling had grown; the NGJA said Sri Lanka was exploring a domestic gold refinery. These costs are why a Sea Street rate sits well above the conversion on this page.

Pawning gold

Pawning is a major use of gold in Sri Lanka. Banks lend against 22-carat jewellery, at a loan value well below its market value, and the loan amount per sovereign moves with the gold price.

The rupee and the gold price

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka ended the rupee's peg of about Rs 200 to 203 per dollar in March 2022, and within days the market rate moved to about Rs 255 to 265, which sent local gold prices sharply higher. The lesson is that a change in the Sri Lankan gold price can come from the rupee as much as from gold; this page shows both the dollar price and the exchange rate so you can tell which one moved. See what moves gold prices.

Rules for gold traders in Sri Lanka

In an October 2019 notice, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said that only licensed commercial banks acting as authorised dealers may deal in foreign exchange, and that anyone else in or resident in Sri Lanka "is not permitted to undertake forex trading transactions or remit funds outside Sri Lanka for such transactions". It added that it may act against both promoters and participants.

Our country guides explain how to check a firm before you open an account.

Trading hours in Sri Lanka time

The international gold market trades almost around the clock, from Monday morning in Asia to Friday evening in New York. The busiest window, the London–New York overlap, falls today at about 18:30–22:30 Sri Lanka time. That is when US data such as payrolls and inflation is released and the price usually moves most. Sri Lanka is on UTC+5:30 all year, the same as India, so the overlap falls in the evening. The gold market hours tool shows every session in your own time zone.

How this LKR gold price is calculated

Three numbers decide everything on this page. First, the international gold price in US dollars per troy ounce: $4,072.1 at the last update. Second, the exchange rate: 1 USD = 332.45 LKR. Third, the weight: one troy ounce is 31.1035 grams, and one tola is 11.6638 grams.

1. Price per gram in USD = $4,072.1 ÷ 31.1035 = $130.92.
2. Price per gram in LKR = $130.92 × 332.45 = 43,525 LKR (24k, pure gold).
3. Price per pawn = 43,525 × 8 = 348,198 LKR.
4. For a lower purity, multiply by the fineness: 22k = 0.9167, 18k = 0.75.

The gold price is the spot price of gold (XAUUSD) from a public real-time feed, refreshed every few seconds while the page is open; the 7-day table and the 30-session chart use COMEX gold futures closes, which usually sit a few dollars above spot. The exchange rate is a mid-market rate; the rate your bank or money changer gives you will be slightly different. If you want to do the maths yourself, our guide to converting the gold price per gram, tola and kilo walks through every step with worked examples.

What this price does not include

The figures above are the international spot price converted into local currency. They are the starting point for every retail price in Sri Lanka, but they are not the price you will pay or receive at a shop. The shop price adds some or all of these on top:

• Import duty or customs charges, where gold or jewellery is imported.
• Sales tax or VAT, where the country charges one. Many countries tax jewellery but not investment bars; the sections above say what applies here.
• Dealer premium: the margin a bullion dealer or bank adds to the spot price for bars and coins, usually larger on small pieces.
• Making charges (labour) on jewellery, often a percentage of the gold value or a fixed amount per gram.
• Local supply and demand, which can push the physical price to a premium or a discount against the international price for weeks at a time.

When you sell, the buyer usually quotes below the spot-based number and deducts for purity testing, wear and sometimes stones. The gap between the buying and the selling price is the real cost of owning physical gold, and it varies a lot between shops, so it is worth asking several.

Frequently asked questions