New Delhi: Gold demand in India declined by 7 percent to 158.1 tonnes during the April-June quarter due to record-high prices. The World Gold Council (WGC) gave this information. In its latest report released on Tuesday, WGC said that gold imports in the second quarter of 2023 increased by 16 percent year-on-year to 209 tonnes due to storage.
According to the report, the demand for the full year could be between 650-750 tonnes, with an estimate of 271 tonnes in the first half of 2023. WGC India Regional CEO Somasundaram PR told PTI that the seven percent drop in gold demand in the second quarter is due to the current record-high gold prices. Due to this consumer sentiment was affected to a great extent.
In the past, there was a huge jump in the price of gold, and in a very short time, it reached the highest level of Rs 64,000 per 10 grams. Apart from this, there has been some slowdown in demand due to tax compliances in the country, he said. The global demand for gold declined by two percent to 921 tonnes in the quarter under review. According to the WGC, there has been a significant decline in the net purchases of central banks on an annual basis.
