NEW DELHI: India’s gold imports in the first quarter of the current fiscal increased by 35.5% from a year ago to $11.45 billion, as per official data.
India is the world’s largest importer of gold, with annual consumption at 800-900 tonnes. Imports were $8.45 billion in the same period of 2018-19.
The increase in gold imports pushed the country's trade deficit marginally up to $45.96 billion during April-June quarter of 2019-20 compared with $44.94 billion a year ago.
For the full year 2018-19, exports of gems and jewellery declined by 5.32% to $30.96 billion while gold imports dipped about 3% in value terms to $32.8 billion.
Since January this year, gold imports have recorded double-digit growth, except in February when it dipped by about 11%. The government increased import duty on gold to 12.5 % from 10 % in this year's budget in July.
Courtesy - Economic Times
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