The Truth About Gold And The Current Account Deficit
March 13, 2013 4 Comments
Our government would have us believe that it is the insatiable appetite of Indians for gold that is at the bottom of our balance of payment problems.Here is the truth and the figures have been put up by the RBI not any advocacy group with an agenda!
The net impact on trade deficit due to the domestic demand of gold is estimated at 0.3% of GDP. It is not perceived to be very significant. However, reducing this could bring down the current account deficit (CAD) — which reflects the gap between domestic savings and investments.
So how about some truth?Anybody for fiscal consolidation?Cutting down on wasteful government expenditure?Can we start out by ensuring that government servants opt for basic vehicles not glam ones and ordinary phones not Apple models,when these are bought out of government money?How about an audit of where exactly our subsidies have gone and who exactly has benefited from them?How about a little less corruption in government?As one stalwart put it why not a more tolerable level of corruption rather than the dacoity killing our economy?
Here is my new discovery for today:
Compared to other asset classes, gold has historically outperformed in a wide range of uncertain economic scenarios: deflation (falling prices accompanied by low or negative growth), stagflation (high inflation and low growth as seen in the US in the 70s) and in potential hyper-inflationary outcomes while it tends to lag when the global economy is booming.
Have you ever wondered about the assets of the really wealthy?Personally I have always been interested in knowing just where wealthy people have their money.My take is that wealthy people didn’t get that way or don’t stay that way without knowing a thing or two about keeping and growing their money safely.That is why I was interested when I came across her statement, given before the returning officer, while filing her nomination papers in 2009 for the Haryana Legislative Assembly elections.
