Gold imports fell sharply by 67.33% in April: MMTC Pamp

Amid the rising concern of the government regarding the trade deficit, there is a good news that the country’s gold imports fell sharply by 67.33 per cent to 19.6 tonnes in April 2016, as jewellers’ strike opposing one per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery significantly hit demand for the metal.

As per the data of gold and silver refiner MMTC Pamp, gold imports declined to 19.6 tonnes in April, 2016 as against 60 tonnes in the year-ago period due to poor demand. Of the total imports, bullion shipments were at 13.14 tonnes in April this year, down from 54 tonnes in the year-ago period. It added that there was import of small quantity of gold for export purpose, but that has not been included in the total gold imports for April and the data does not include the imports done for export purpose.

MMTC Pamp, which is a joint venture between state-run MMTC and Switzerland’s PAMP said that not much was imported due to poor demand in the wake of jewellers’ strike in April. Whatever gold that was imported in January and February was being used.

India imports around 800-900 tonnes of gold annually and in 2015-16, the country is estimated to have imported 750 tonnes of gold, as against 971 tonnes in the preceding year. The country's current account deficit is likely to widen modestly to $25 billion in the current fiscal from $20 billion last year on rising demand for gold and sluggishness in exports.