Gold imports plummet 79% in December 2022

The month of December saw an astonishing 79% drop in Indian gold imports, relative to the year before. This has been the lowest level of imports that the nation has seen in the past 20 years. Unofficial government sources informed Reuters that local gold prices levitated to record high values, which in turn dampened the overall demand for the metal. 

At a global macro level, the world’s 2nd largest buyer of the metal lowering their demand by 79% could imply a deceleration in the gains in worldwide gold prices over the next 8 months. But on an indigenous macro level, this reduction in import does have an upshot in the form of reduction of the soaring trade deficit and the bolstering of an otherwise weak currency.

In absolute quantitative terms, imported gold in December was 20 tonnes, which is 75 tonnes lower than the gold imports exactly a year ago. The monetary valuation of the imports is traced to a value of $1.18 billion, which is nearly a fall of $3.55 billion from December 2021.