Gold imports dip for fifth consecutive month in April, fall by almost 100 pc

India's gold imports contracted for the fifth consecutive month in a row, falling by about 100 per cent to USD 2.83 million in April due to the lockdowns imposed globally on account of coronavirus outbreak. The import of the yellow metal stood at USD 3.97 billion in April 2019, according to the commerce ministry's data.

The decline in gold imports has helped in narrowing the country's trade deficit to USD 6.8 billion during the last month as against USD 15.33 billion a year ago. Gold imports have been recording negative growth since December last year.

India is the largest importer of gold, which mainly caters to the demand of jewelry industry. In volume terms, the country imports 800-900 tonnes of gold annually.

Gems and jewelry exports declined 98.74 per cent to USD 36 million in April. The country's gold imports have a bearing on CAD, which is the difference between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange.

Gold imports fell 14.23 per cent to USD 28.2 billion during 2019-20 as against USD 32.91 billion in 2018-19.