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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (49657)	2/26/2000 8:43:00 AM
From: IngotWeTrust	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116801

Fair Use, etc., [Emphasis Mine] Government may cut duty on gold imports Naveen Thukral AHMEDABAD, FEBRUARY 25: The government is likely to cut duties on gold imports in its budget for 2000/2001 (April-March), traders and bankers said on Monday. Finance minister Yashwant Sinha increased the duty on gold imports to 40 per cent from 25 per cent in January ahead of the budget to stem surging imports. "Last time's hike in the import duty on gold has had a negative impact of increased smuggling so this time the Government could bring down the duty," said Yashwant Thakkar, a leading gold importer. Sinha will unveil the budget on February 29. Traders expect the Government to reduce the import duty on gold to 30 or 35 per cent. Traders said the increase in the duty had led to an increase in gold coming through unofficial channels. India is the world's largest consumer of gold and imports most of its requirements. "If they increase the duty, gold imports will fall and smuggling will go up further," a bullion dealer at a leading gold importing bank said in the southern city of Madras. Data from the industry-funded World Gold Council last week showed country's official gold imports fell to 573.8 tonnes in 1999 from 613.7 tonnes in 1998, but demand rose by 3 per cent. It said higher local recycling of scrap [ just for the record, sales of my gold recycling for $20 per oz How-2-Kit/Book sales to India have spiked higher in recent months, so I guess y'all can find me immodestly smiling at this public statement in this press release: worldaccessnet.com ] triggered by the jump in prices made up for the shortfall in the official imports. Gold is considered an investment in largely rural India and is widely given as gifts at weddings and festivals. Traders said the Government should allow futures trading in gold which would benefit both dealers and customers in India. "By hedging gold, we will be in a better position to absorb the shocks of price volatility," said Girish Kumar, director of Chokshi Mahajan, a bullion merchants association. He said spot bullion prices had fluctuated by $40 to $50 an ounce in the last six months, severely hitting demand in India. Bankers said the government needed to take steps to boost a gold bond scheme which was launched last year. Under the scheme, banks aim to draw out privately held gold stocks and reduce the country's dependence on imports. Dealers said the scheme was unlikely to mobilise huge gold stocks unless the government granted amnesty to depositors. Last week, the SBI said it had collected two tonnes gold since the launch of its scheme in November 1999. It has set the target for collections at 100 tonnes in the first year of the scheme. [took 3 months to collect first 2 tonnes-9 months t'go and 98 tonnes to "mobilize"--wonder how the spin is going to sound ala India?] Copyright ¸ 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.