If you are planning to buy gold coins for shagun (auspicious gift) this festival season, there is some bad news.
The Finance Ministry has ruled out lifting the ban on import of gold coins and medallions.
Alternatively, traders can buy gold bars here and convert these into coins. However, this will make coins more expensive.
The Government is firm on not changing its decision to ban imports, which was taken to curb the widening Current Account Deficit (CAD) at $70 billion or 3.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
“Import of gold coins and gold medallions is prohibited,” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters here.
He was referring to a suggestion that the Government should allow import of coins for shagun purposes.
He asked banks, especially the ones which import, to be very strict. “They have to scrupulously follow the RBI and Government guidelines,” he said. Gold imports touched a high of 162.4 tonnes in May and fell to 7.2 tonnes in September.
The Government expects gold imports to come down to 800 tonnes this fiscal.