India’s imports of gold declined by 43.05% to $1.68 billion in the month of October 2018, as compared to imports of $2.95 billion gold in October last year. The gold imports fell mainly due to depreciating rupee and subdued demand. This could have positive implications for the current account deficit (CAD).
The commerce ministry in its latest data has showed that the imports mainly take care of demand of the jewellery industry. The exports of gems and jewellery grew by about 5.5% during the month to $34.9 billion. Besides, silver imports grew by 51.7% to $526.2 million in October.
Meanwhile, India, the world's second-biggest gold consumer after China, imports about 900 tonnes of gold a year. The domestic currency has depreciated nearly 14% since the beginning of this year.