Himalayan News Service
KATHMANDU: Silver traders now will need Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association (NEGOSIDA)’s permission to import silver. Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on April 13 issued a notice to this effect. The move comes in the wake of excessive import of silver.
Earlier, NRB had imposed a ceiling on the import of gold to avoid dollar deficit.
NRB has recently authorised NEGOSIDA to grant permission to traders who are willing to import silver. NEGOSIDA president Tej Ratna Shakya said NEGOSIDA will grant permission to its authorised member traders to import silver. “Only our members are authorised to import silver and that the import quantity will not exceed 100 kilos per day per person,” informed Shakya.
Per day consumption of silver in the local market is about 100 kilos. Total silver import since mid-January is about 13,000 kilos. Customs duty on silver in India is Rs 1,500 per kilo gram, while the same in Nepal is Rs 300.
Meanwhile, gold and silver traders have urged the government to hike the customs duty on silver in order to control the excessive import and smuggling.
“We have prepared a proposal which will be forwarded to NRB soon. The proposal is regarding a hike in the customs duty,” said Shakya. Data since mid-January showed that 13,000 kilos of silver was imported. “This is more than enough to meet the demands in the local market,” Shakya said, adding: “Per day consumption of silver in the local market is only about 100 kilos. On this basis, normal import of 5000 - 6000 kilos will be enough to fulfil the demand in the local market for about a month and half,” he added.
After a brief pause, NRB resumed the import of gold on April 2. As per the new directive, importers need to get prior permission from the Nepal Bankers’ Association. The upper limit for the import of gold has been fixed at 10 kilos per day. However, NEGOSIDA has been opposing the move and insisting on 20-25 kilos per day. Recently, NBA has listed the names of four commercial banks which can import gold.
Gold this week opened at Rs 27,690 per 10 gram, while silver opened at Rs 444 per 10 gram.
