Gold import down by 50 pc

KATHMANDU, NOV 29 -Gold import halved in the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to same period last year. The country imported the precious yellow metal worth Rs 3.5 billion in the period between mid-July and mid-October compared to Rs 7 billion worth of import a year ago, according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)’s report on the current microeconomic situation.
Silver import surged to a whopping Rs 2.6 billion from Rs 847 million over the period.

Gold dealers attributed the fall in gold import to multiple factors, including general strikes, availability of smuggled gold , dealers’ protests against regulation, and comparatively low demand due to high price. In the first quarter of last fiscal year, gold import had increased by 30.9 percent.

Mani Ratna Shakya, president of the Federation of Nepal Gold Silver Dealers’ Association (Fenegosida), said low demand even during festivals like Teej resulted in decreased import. In September, traders did not buy gold from banks for about three weeks, citing slowdown in demand. In the month, more than 300 kg gold had remained unsold with banks.

A trader said the availability of cheaper smuggled gold was one of the reasons behind the decline in import through legal channels. He said the government’s market monitoring, which exposed wrongdoings by jewellery shops, also resulted in low import to some extent.


Repeated seizures of smuggled gold by the police suggest illegal gold trading is not new to the local market. Normally, the local market consumes 30 kg of gold per day, according to gold traders. Based on the NRB directive, only selected commercial banks are allowed to import a limited quantity of gold . The banks release 20 kg gold per day in the market on rotation basis. However, there is no quantitative restriction on silver, and even bullion dealers besides banks can import the product under the open general licence (OGL) provision.

As an impact of the slowdown in gold jewellery business, according to the Fenegosida, many dealers are now focusing on silver. Goldsmiths, who use to be packed with work orders for gold jewellery, are now found working on silver products, says Shakya.