Govt hikes import tariff on gold, silver

The government today raised the import tariff value on gold and silver to USD 373 per 10 grams and USD 517 per kg respectively, taking global cues.
For the current month, the tariff value on imported gold was fixed at USD 368 per 10 grams and on silver it was USD 474 per kg.
The import tariff value is the base price at which the customs duty is determined to prevent under-invoicing.
Normally, the tariff value is revised on a fortnightly basis, but this time it has been changed after a month.
The change in tariff value of these precious metals has been notified by the Central Board of Excise and Customs, said an official statement issued by the Finance Ministry.

At London market, gold prices today recovered slightly in the morning trade but remained near three-week lows after recent statements from a US Federal Reserve meeting suggested a December rate increase is still on the cards.

Spot gold prices at the London market rose by 0.06 per cent to USD 1,148.00, after closing down by 2.5 per cent yesterday.
In the national capital, gold prices slipped below Rs 27,000 per 10 gram today taking global cues.
The country's gold imports reduced to almost half in September this year to USD 2 billion, as against USD 3.783 billion in the year-ago period, as per the government data.

Gold is the second-largest import item for India after petroleum. Higher gold import bill adversely affects the country's current account deficit, which occurs when value of import of goods and services is more than exports.