Smuggling to avoid taxes to boost Indian gold imports to record: ANZ

India’s gold imports could hit a record high this year amid widespread smuggling to sidestep government levies on overseas shipments, Australia and New Zealand Bank, Asia’s biggest shipper of physical gold, said on Wednesday.

The forecast by the bank’s head of precious metals, John Levin, runs counter to tallies that show gold imports in decline in the world’s second-biggest gold market after China.

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