"To moderate the demand for gold for domestic use, it has been decided to restrict the import of gold on consignment basis by banks, only to meet the genuine needs of exporters of gold jewellery," the RBI said in a statement.
As per a data released today by the government, gold and silver imports during April, 2013 jumped by 138 per cent to USD 7.5 billion against USD 3.1 billion in the year-ago period. Due to high gold imports, the country's trade deficit in April widened to USD 17.8 billion year on year.
Higher trade deficit in turn puts pressure on CAD, which has been described as the biggest risk to the Indian economy by the RBI. http://www.financialexpress.com/news/reserve-bank-of-india-puts-restrictions-on-gold-imports-by-banks/1115161
