Gems & Jewellery News

Gold import jumps to $6.3 bn in April due to surge in domestic demand

[ad_1]


Gold import, which has a bearing on the country’s current account deficit (CAD), zoomed to USD 6.3 billion for the month of April due to a surge in domestic demand, according to the Commerce Ministry data.


Silver imports during the month, however, dipped by 88.53 per cent to about USD 11.9 million.



Gold import stood at USD 2.83 million (Rs 21.61 crore) in April 2020, the data showed.


The rise in gold imports pushed the country’s trade deficit to USD 15.1 billion in April 2021 as against USD 6.76 billion in the same month a year ago.


According to industry experts, increasing domestic demand is pushing up imports of gold, however, the second wave of COVID-19 may impact the demand in the coming months.


Akshaya Tritiya, a highly auspicious day to purchase gold, also saw muted sales as compared to pre-COVID numbers, with the new pandemic wave and resultant restrictions and partial lockdowns hitting consumer sentiment.


During the ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 infections, many states have imposed lockdowns or lockdown-like restrictions as a desperate measure to restrict the spread of the virus.


Usually, 30-40 tonnes of gold is sold on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, but this time sales were not likely to reach even 1 tonne.


India’s current account swung to a deficit for the first time in the current fiscal, with the gap coming at USD 1.7 billion or 0.2 per cent of the GDP in the December quarter.


India is the largest importer of gold, which mainly caters to the demand of the jewellery industry.


Gems and jewellery exports grew multi-fold to USD 3.4 billion in April as against USD 36 million in April 2020. Due to a lockdown in April last year, the exports were impacted severely.


In volume terms, the country imports 800-900 tonnes of gold annually. The government in the Budget reduced the import duty on the yellow metal from 12.5 per cent to 10 per cent (7.5 per cent customs duty plus 2.5 per cent Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess).

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor



[ad_2]

Source link