In a move aimed at curtailing demand for the precious metal for domestic use amid widening current account deficit (CAD), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the restrictions on gold import to other agencies in addition to banks. The provisions of earlier issued May 13 circular has now been extended to nominated agencies/ premier / star trading houses and accordingly any import of gold on consignment basis by both nominated agencies and banks shall now be permissible only to meet the needs of exporters of gold jewellery with immediate effect.
The central bank has also said that all Letters of Credit (LC) to be opened by nominated banks and agencies for import of gold ‘under all categories will be only on 100 per cent cash margin basis.’ Further, all imports of gold will necessarily have to be on ‘Documents against Payment (DP)’ basis as the imports on ‘Documents against Acceptance (DA)’ will not be permitted. However, the restrictions will not apply to import of gold to meet the needs of exporters of gold jewellery.
To reduce gold import, the government and RBI together have been taking steps, mainly to curb the surging CAD, which has hit a record high of 6.7% of GDP in the third quarter of 2012-13. Gold import during the first two months of the current fiscal are estimated at $15 billion. Gold imports by India, the world's largest consumer stood at 860 tonnes in 2012.
MoneyWorks4Me is a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser (IA) dedicated to helping investors build long-term wealth through transparent, research-driven, conflict-free guidance. Founded in 2008, we started our journey as a Research Analyst (RA), providing deep fundamental analysis, intrinsic value insights, and long-term investing frameworks for Indian equities. In 2017, we transitioned to a full-fledged SEBI-registered Investment Adviser, strengthening our commitment to acting as a fiduciary—always putting the investor’s interest first.
To become India’s most trusted, research-powered fiduciary advisory platform—where every investor, regardless of experience, can make calm, confident, and well-reasoned investment decisions.
MoneyWorks4Me ensures this through: