Fall in gold imports is not an aberration, trend likely to continue: Indian Commerce Minister

NEW DELHI (Scrap Monster) :  The Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma stated that the drastic fall in gold imports during the month of August is not an aberration and that the imports are likely to consistently go down in the forthcoming months as well.

In accordance with recently released trade data, India’s exports climbed 13% to $26 million in August. All sectors except jewellery have shown positive growth during the month. On the other hand, India’s imports reduced marginally from $37.3 billion to $37.1 billion. The stalled gold imports helped the country to trim the trade deficit for the month to $10.9 billion, which is the lowest in 6 months. As per data, India’s gold imports plunged from $2.2 billion in July to as low as $650 million in August.

A widening trade deficit has been the main contributor to India's record current account deficit. In recent months, lower demand in the US and Europe pulled down export demand, while imports kept rising due to high oil and gold inflows. The series of steps announced by the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over the past few months have considerably slowed down official shipments of gold into the country.

The Commerce Ministry believes that the curbs placed on gold import will continue to help knock down the trade deficit. With exports to the Western countries expected to pick up considerably during the rest of the year, the Ministry forecasts a complete reversal in fortunes.