NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India imported around 162 tonnes of gold during May, a finance ministry spokesman said on Monday, much more than the industry expected but well below an estimate of 262 tonnes earlier in the day from the finance minister.
"The correct figure for May gold import is around 162 tonnes, and not 262 tonnes," D.S. Malik, spokesman of the ministry of finance, told Reuters.
Earlier, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had said he thought the figure was 262 tonnes.
"This May, I think it has been 262 tonnes. Obviously, India cannot afford to import 262 tonnes of gold a month," Chidambaram had told reporters after a meeting with financial market regulators.
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Writing by Jo Winterbottom; Editing by Anthony Barker)
