"Resist Urge to Buy Gold": India's Finance Minister
Monday, 6/17/2013 10:06
Indian public urged not to buy gold for both national and personal reasons...
INDIA's finance minister has repeated his appeal to the public to curb their demand to buy gold.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, P.Chidambaram said that heavy gold imports hurt the Indian economy, by widening the current account deficit and pushing down the value of the Rupee currency.
"I once again appeal to everyone to resist the temptation to buy gold," Chidambaram said.
"This will show positive impact on every aspect of Indian Economy."
The government of India – the world's largest private market for
buying gold – began targeting lower gold imports in early 2012.
After this April saw record levels of gold imports, Chidambaram said, net gold imports fell by nearly 75% between the first and second halves of May, thanks to a sharp rise in gold import duty, as well as new restrictions on how imports are financed.
Appealing to Indian households' self interests, "It is wrong to say that there aren't other attractive investment instruments," Chidambaram went on.
"People who are financially well informed should put their investments in other financial instruments."
Prices to buy gold with India Rupees have risen in 30 of the last 39 years.
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