‘Import curbs to up gold smuggling’

MUMBAI: Gold smuggling into India will pick up if the import curbs continue for too long, the Reserve bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said in an interview to a television channel on Monday.

India will keep a tight leash on gold imports despite a recent improvement in its trade deficit and lobbying by a bullion industry struggling with high premiums and a supply crunch.

Earlier this year, the government and the central bank issued a series of curbs on imports of gold — the second-most expensive item on India's import bill after petroleum, oil and lubricants — hoping to ease the pressure on the currency. The measures included hiking import duties on gold to a record 10%.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com