India Experiences Highest Ever Silver Imports, Officials Strike Back - Nathan McDonald

March 10, 2016

The demand for physical precious metals continues on, breaking previous record numbers and highlighting the desire for safety that only precious metals can provide.

In a recent post, I discussed how the US mint is having to ration sales of their silver rounds even though they are experiencing record-breaking sales and have a strong market for the product they are trying to sell.

Other mints around the world are reporting whopping sales including the Canadian Mint and the Perth mint, which, not surprisingly, are also exhibiting the incredible demand for their coins.

This trend is occurring all around the world as more and more people become aware of the dangerous situation that the global markets are rapidly approaching. Yet there is one country that has always stood by precious metals and is once again showing their affinity towards them.

The country I speak of is India; well, its people anyway. The government of India is an entirely different story, as they have for years attempted to keep precious metals out of the hands of their people, undoubtedly being pressured by Western Central Banksters to limit the growing demand from the people of India.

These tariffs and import restrictions have been covered at length at Sprott Money; we have pointed out the draconian measures that India’s political leaders have taken to stop the inflow of gold and silver – all of which have failed horribly, as predicted.

Even though these measures have failed horribly, the government of India is once again back to their dirty tricks and are once again trying to slow down their people’s move to honest money.

Earlier last week, import tariffs for gold and silver were raised. This time, the import tariff for gold went from $388 per 10 grams of gold to $399 per 10 grams of gold. At the same time, the import tariff for silver rose from $487 per kilogram to $495 per kilogram.

Although not as serious as some of the past measures they have taken, it reinforces the fact that their war on honest money is not over yet and further measures will be taken.

This recent measure comes on the heels of the incredible demand that I previously mentioned in this post. Reports indicate that India experienced its third highest gold imports ever throughout 2015, at 947 tonnes. Additionally, silver imports were record-breaking, with its highest ever inflows! A stunning 8,504 tonnes of silver made its way into India.

What needs to be noted is that these figures, even though they are record-breaking, are only the official numbers. The numbers in reality are much higher, as these figures do not include the massive amount of gold and silver that the citizens of India illegally imported into the country through the black market in order to avoid the regulations and tariffs that the government of India has imposed on them.

If you think the people of India are slowing down their accumulation in 2016, then I think you need to reexamine your train of thought and change your perspective. If anything, demand has likely increased with recent developments and continued stagnating paper prices.

The physical demand that we have reported on thus far this year shows no signs of abating and will continue on until prices move significantly higher, alleviating much of the pressure that we are experiencing at these levels.

Despite what Central Bankers desire and despite what Government officials want, real honest money is moving back into the centre of the financial world and as the people of India have shown over and over again, there is little that the Government can do to stop this trend.