Jewellers may ban sale of gold coins,
bars for 6 months
Jewellers could continue a voluntary ban on sales of gold coins and bars for six months, in support of the
government’s efforts to curb imports, a trade body said in a statement on Wednesday.
The All India Gems and
Jewellery Trade Federation, which has more than 40,000 members, added that over
65 per cent of jewellers had agreed to the ban on sales of bars and coins,
which account for about 35 per cent of total business.
“The jewellery
community is one in supporting the country in times of crisis. We are happy to
help with this voluntary action,” Haresh Soni, chairman of the federation, said
in the statement.
The trade body had
appealed to jewellers to stop sales of coins and
bars in late June.
India’s current
account deficit swelled to a record 4.8 per cent of gross domestic product in
the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013, and gold is the second-largest item in
the iport bill.
The government has
hiked import duty to 8 per cent and the central bank has tightened availability
of supplies in an effort to rein in imports, which hit a record 162 tonnes in
May.
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