Finance minister P Chidambaram on Monday acknowledged a spurt in gold smuggling in the wake of higher duties and other curbs on the import of the yellow metal into the country. While estimating illegal shipments of up to 3,000kg in certain months — a record by all accounts — the minister justified the restrictions, citing high current account deficit (CAD) but indicated that some of the tightening may be eased in the next few months.
The government had increased customs duty on gold to 10 per cent and later RBI imposed import restriction by linking it to exports in an attempt to lower the ballooning CAD which was $88 billion last fiscal. This year, the government hopes to contain CAD at around $50 billion by bringing down gold imports.
The finance minister, who was speaking at the international customs day function here, said a review on the decision to lower duties or remove other restrictions was possible only after March even as he said monthly smuggling of gold was 1-3 tonnes after imposition of the restrictions.
The finance minister, who was speaking at the international customs day function here, said a review on the decision to lower duties or remove other restrictions was possible only after March even as he said monthly smuggling of gold was 1-3 tonnes after imposition of the restrictions.
The finance minister, who was speaking at the international customs day function here, said a review on the decision to lower duties or remove other restrictions was possible only after March even as he said monthly smuggling of gold was 1-3 tonnes after imposition of the restrictions. Read more..
Source: Latest Business News
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