James Burton, chief executive of the industry body, said that after the Dubai listing, which would be that exchange's first ever ETF, the WGC may take a pause.

'After Dubai, I would say there are no gaps (in availability of gold ETFs in major markets),' he said in an interview in Hong Kong, where he was launching the SPDR Gold Trust.

'I had hoped or planned that we would have a consolidation year, where we just went and marketed, instead of this frantic listing that we've been doing. We've been doing it non-stop since mid-2002. There's some logic in giving it a rest for a year and then spend a bit of time marketing it.'

The ETFs are backed by physical gold, which gives investors exposure to the gold price without needing to take delivery.

That adds to demand for the precious metal, which has attracted safe-haven investments during the past year of turbulence on global financial markets.

The spot gold price stood at $912.50 an ounce on Thursday, having hit a record of $1,030.80 in March.

Burton said the outlook for global new supply of gold was 'at best flat', with estimates ranging from 2 per cent growth to 5 per cent decline each year, while Central Banks were selling less than they were entitled to, further supporting prices.

He said there were no definitive plans for more ETFs in 2009 although other potential markets remained for the future.

'If you look around and think what's out there? You would look at Korea, you'd look at Brazil, Argentina, those are potentials.'

He also said the shariah-compliant Dubai ETF could be marketed more widely in the Islamic world, but he drew the line at a listing in Russia any time soon.

'I would like to watch Russia for a few more years and make sure that all the rules are in place for a fully functioning exchange before I would go and spend time there. That's the most diplomatic way I can put that,' he said.

'After watching recent events there, I'd want to know what the rules are.'