And for a Friday ……as the West Asia war widens with Crude prices stubbornly above 100 $s …the Rupee under pressure …some thoughts ….. some musings…..
The success of recent FCNR dollar mobilisation has bolstered India’s Forex reserves giving the RBI sufficient clout to defend the Rupee ….. but the external factors keeping crude prices soaring with an overhang of a possible 100% penalty by US for Russian oil imports are all factors beyond our reach …… crude import bill is the largest forex drainer followed by Gold @ 75-80 Bn ,$s as the second largest item in India’s Import basket ……. & here is a possibility for us to convert this Crisis into an Opportunity ……..
It is widely estimated that over the years Indian Households & Temples have accumulated more than 25,000 MTs of Gold… lying in lockers , safes, Godrej Almirahs in every Indian household & every big Temple … …….which when compared to the average imports of 750 Mts of Gold draining 75 Bn $s per year means……. the country is sitting atop a Mountain of unutilsed wealth …… if even 5% of this accumulated gold can be successfully monetised & bought into RBI’s Balance sheet …. India’s position in the World economic order will completely change ……our Sovereign rating will be immediately upgraded & every global fund will be interested in investing in India ……. my friend Nilesh Shah MD of Kotak Mahindra AMC & former President of BCCI has articulated many brilliant schemes ……the earlier Gold Monetisation schemes (GMS) had poor frameworks particularly from the Income Tax harassment angle , the Gold purity assessment systems etcetc ….: with the current prices of Gold & the success of Gold ETFs ….,,a well thought out GMS under the PPP mode which includes Reputable Indian Jewellers across the country will surely succeed in unearthing this huge untapped Indian wealth ….. the time to encash is Now ……
Let us all hope that the decision makers in the country …. seize this opportunity & devise a practical GMS …..the trusting way …. the legal way …. the SEEGOS way.