India’s April gold imports more than double from year ago, GFMS says

gata.org / By Rajendra Jadhav via Reuters / May 8, 2017

MUMBAI, India — India’s gold imports in April more than doubled from a year ago to 75 tonnes on strong demand during a festival that prompts purchases and as jewellers stocked up ahead of a new national sales tax, provisional data from consultancy GFMS showed.

The rise in imports by the world’s second-biggest consumer of the precious metal will likely support global prices that are near their lowest in seven weeks, but could widen the South Asian country’s trade deficit.

Indians in the last week of April celebrated the annual Hindu and Jain holy festival of Akshaya Tritiya, when buying gold is considered auspicious.

“Retail demand was good during Akshay Tritiya. Many jewellers were stocking ahead of implementation of GST (Goods and Services Tax) in July,” said Sudheesh Nambiath, a senior analyst at GFMS, a division of Thomson Reuters, said today. …

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http://in.reuters.com/article/india-gold-imports-idINKBN18417I

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