The commerce ministry in its latest data has showed that India’s gold imports declined by 25.13% to $8.43 billion in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2018-19 (Q1FY19), as compared to gold imports of $11.26 billion in the corresponding quarter of last financial year, 2017-18.
The fall in imports was mainly due to sliding prices of the metal in both global and domestic markets. The imports of the metal have been declining since January this year. Contraction in gold imports help contain the current account deficit (CAD). CAD, which is the difference between the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, jumped to $48.7 billion, or 1.9% of GDP, in 2017-18 fiscal.
India is the largest importer of gold, which mainly caters to the demand of the jewellery industry. The gems and jewelery exports in June grew by about 3% to $3.5 billion. As per the data, silver imports grew by 104.5% to $364.24 million in June. Besides, the country imports 700-800 tonnes of gold annually.