NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India cannot afford high levels of gold imports and may review its import policy, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Monday, after imports of precious metals jumped more than 150 percent in April.
India, the world's biggest buyer of gold, hiked its import duty to 6 percent in January in an attempt to limit purchases and rein in a record high current account deficit. Gold is the second biggest import item after crude oil.
Gold prices on the Multi Commodity Exchange rose to a session high of 27,015 rupees per 10 grams after Chidambaram's remarks, before easing back to trade 0.63 percent higher at 26,980 rupees.
On May 13, the RBI introduced more restrictions on purchases for jewellers and banks as it also weighs in to curb imports.
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; writing by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Jo Winterbottom)