Friday
Families, who are estimated to hold about 80{781366457d9c05ca9285c5eb3e04ac75968647e24436986cab65f74e6f4b3aad} of the accumulated Gold in India, have been offered a scheme by the Modi government that seeks to put that their Gold to use – government use.
On offer is 2.5{781366457d9c05ca9285c5eb3e04ac75968647e24436986cab65f74e6f4b3aad} interest; not bad for Gold. The problem is that the interest is not paid in Gold; it’s in paper. People hold their wealth in Gold because they don’t trust the stability of value of paper – particularly right now in India.
So how have Indians responded?
Forty-eight government approved purity testing centres have been opened but, according to Harshad Ajmera, president of the Indian Association of Hallmarking Centres, have yet to test a single gram of household Gold.
Oh dear.
There is only one company offering to pay a yield on Gold, paid in Gold.
Disclaimer – yes, I’m involved