Gold Imports by India Jump Fourfold as Tax Fear Spurred Stocking
- Traders built up inventories on fear of higher national tax
- Overseas shipments to slacken from this month, analyst says
Gold necklaces sit on display as an employee talks on the phone inside the Dwarkadas Chandumal Jewelers store in the Zaveri Bazaar area of Mumbai, India, on April 21, 2015.
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
India, which vies with China as the world’s top gold consumer, saw a fourfold increase in imports of the precious metal in May as traders stocked up fearing that the government would fix a higher rate for jewelry under a new national goods tax to be implemented from next month.
Overseas purchases advanced to 126 metric tons in May from 31.5 tons a year earlier, according to a person familiar with provisional data from the finance ministry, who asked not to be identified as the data aren’t public. Finance Ministry spokesman D. S. Malik declined to comment on the data.