Gold investing outlook increases MMTC import plans

Expectations that the price of gold bullion will rise in the long term have prompted India's MMTC Limited to increase gold imports, Reuters reports.

According to the news provider, MMTC, which ensures gold bullion traders and jewelers in the country have enough gold by loaning it to them at international interest rates, plans to import 23 per cent more gold over the 2008/09 financial year.

This is because the crisis in the global financial system is expected to boost demand for gold bullion.

"Our imports this year will be more than 150 tons, and it could even touch 180 tons," Sanjiv Batra, chairman and managing director of MMTC, confirmed in a Reuters interview.

"The price of gold is bound to go up in the long term, therefore people will hedge by investing in it."

World Gold Council figures put India as the biggest consumer of gold in the world, with investment demand said to have augmented by ten per cent last year.

The Times revealed yesterday (October 13th) that more money is being put into Exchange Traded Funds in response to the global financial turmoil.

MMTC is the principal gold and silver importer in the Indian subcontinent.

How best to Buy Gold today? "If there's an easier route to buying investment gold, I have not found it," says one BullionVault customer. Find out for yourself and start Investing in Gold here...