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The significant increase in the import duty on gold from 6 per cent to 15 per cent may lead to an increase in imports from Dubai through the free trade agreement route, think tank GTRI said on Wednesday. It said that the duty hike also sharply changes the economics of precious metal imports routed through the United Arab Emirates under the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). India had allowed imports of gold from Dubai at tariffs one percentage point below the normal Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) rate through a Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) system. The quota began at 120 tonnes annually in 2022 and is set to rise to 200 tonnes by 2027, nearly one-fourth of India's yearly gold imports. "With the new MFN tariff structure taking effective duties to 15 per cent, gold imported under the UAE quota would enter at 14 per cent. The widening tariff gap could encourage greater routing of global bullion through Dubai, even though the UAE is not a miner of gold or silver," the
Gold prices, which scaled record highs in the domestic market last week, are likely to face a crucial test in the coming days with investors watching US macroeconomic data and geopolitical tensions for cues on the trajectory of the precious metal, analysts said. Upcoming US employment data, purchasing managers' index (PMI) readings from major economies, and speeches of several Federal Reserve officials will also be watched, they said. "In the week ahead, focus will be on the manufacturing/services PMI data from across regions and the US employment data. Festive demand in India and uncertainty over the Russia-Ukraine peace deal as well as straining India-US relations, will also drive market sentiment," Pranav Mer, Vice President, EBG -- Commodity & Currency Research, JM Financial Services, said. On Friday, the most-traded gold futures for October contract soared to an all-time high of Rs 1,04,090 per 10 grams on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) before settling near record ...