India’s love for gold is well-known. It is the second largest gold-consuming country in the world behind China. But Indians also have an affinity for silver.
Last year, silver imports into India hit a new record of 304 million ounces. That crushed the previous import high of 260 million ounces set in 2015.
We recently reported that the Federal Reserve plans to launch a 12-week pilot program in partnership with several large commercial banks to test the feasibility of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The US isn’t alone in experimenting with digital currency. India is working on developing a digital rupee and recently announced the second phase of testing.
After successfully running a pilot program to test its digital currency at the wholesale level, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced it will test the digital rupee in a retail setting.
Gold is migrating from the West to the East.
As Bloomberg described it, many western investors – particularly at the institutional level – are dumping bullion. Meanwhile, Asian buyers are taking advantage of lower prices to snap up less expensive jewelry, coins, and bars.
Gold demand in India was healthy in September and the outlook is strong moving forward.
Healthy retail demand in September drove the local price briefly into a premium of $2 to $3 per ounce early in the month. It was the first time gold had been in premium since May.
Indian silver imports are on pace to triple this year as investors bet the white metal is primed to rebound and outperform gold in the near future.
Silver prices have dropped to 2-year lows, and the silver-gold ratio has risen to nearly 90-1, signaling that the white metal is significantly undervalued compared to gold.
Gold demand in India was strong in May with retail sales rebounding and imports up both month-on-month and year-on-year.
Gold demand in India strengthened in October despite higher prices. This continues a rebound in the world’s second-largest gold market after it was pummeled by government policies during the coronavirus pandemic.
The recovery in the Indian gold market remained on track in September with strong imports and investment demand.
India imported 89.5 tons of gold in September, according to the latest data from the World Gold Council. While that was down 21% from the five-month high we saw in August, it was still far above the import totals in September 2020 as the response to COVID-19 ravaged the Indian economy. It was also significantly above import totals in September 2019 — prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
India’s gold imports hit a 5-month high of 121 tons in August, a further sign of recovery in the world’s second-largest gold market.
After being put on pause due to a coronavirus surge, the recovery of India’s gold market appears to be back on track.
