The Reserve Bank has eased the restrictions on gold imports by scrapping the 80:20 scheme, under which it was mandatory to export at least 20 per cent of the imported metal. The move is expected to bring down the price of the precious metal.The 80:20 scheme was put in place in August last year to curb high gold inflows that was widening the current account deficit. The RBI said in a notification that all instructions issued about the scheme from time to time stand withdrawn with immediate effect.
The surprise move comes at a time when the industry was actually expecting more curbs imports of gold which is seen as an unproductive asset attracting household savings away from the financial markets.
As per the latest trade data, gold imports jumped 280 per cent to 4.17 billion US dollars in October. The in-bound shipments touched 95 tonnes in September this year as against 12 tonnes a year ago.
