Higher duty takes shine off gold, silver imports

India buys gold and silver from other countries to sell to its people.

In May, the government made these metals more expensive to bring into the country by raising a tax called a customs duty.

The duty went up from 6 percent to 15 percent.

Because the metals cost more, people started buying less.

In July, gold imports grew only a little bit, by about 4.77 percent.

Silver imports dropped a lot, by 66.1 percent.

A government ministry that watches trade released these numbers.

In the national capital, gold cost about Rs 1,57,000 for 10 grams.

Silver cost about Rs 2.40 lakh per kilogram.

So when something gets more expensive to bring in, fewer people buy it.