New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday proposed steps to monetise the yellow metal by introducing a gold bond and a monetisation scheme besides announcing his plans to make indigenous gold coins. He said it while sharing with the Lok Sabha during budget presentation that an estimated 20,000 tonne of gold stocks in India are neither traded or monetised.
The minister proposed to introduce the Gold Monetisation Scheme which will replace both — the existing gold deposit and gold metal loan schemes. According to Jaitley, the new scheme will allow the depositors of gold to earn interest in their metal accounts and the jewellers to obtain loans in their metal accounts.
“Banks and other dealers would also be able to monetise this gold,” he said in the Lok Sabha while presenting the central budget 2015. The finance minister also proposed to set up Sovereign Gold Bond as an alternate financial asset to stop people from buying the precious metal physically.
The bond will carry a fixed rate of interest, and also be redeemable in terms of the face value of the gold at the time of redemption by the holder of the bond. Besides, the centre is also coming out with an Indian gold coin with the Ashoka Chakra embossed on its face.
According to the minister, Indian consumers depend on foreign gold coins to meet their needs which results in Indian cash landing up in external markets. “I propose to mint gold coins with the Ashoka Chakra which will help to recycle gold internally in India,” he said. India imports 800-1000 tonnes of the yellow metal each year.
