India’s top jeweller sees brief slowdown if gold buying curbed

India’s largest jeweller Titan Co. Ltd. said there could be a temporary slowdown in demand if the government implemented any measures to curb gold-buying.

There should not be any issues with gold supply at Titan for the next three to four months, Titan’s chief financial officer Ashok Sonthalia told Shery Ahn on Bloomberg TV. Local demand will stay resilient in the long term, he said.

March and April have been difficult in Titan’s Middle East market, even though the medium- to long-term outlook remains positive, according to the business. Until the current geopolitical situation improves, the company has decided to slow down its expansion in the region.

On Sunday, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on Indians to avoid buying gold for at least a year to preserve foreign-exchange reserves in the midst of an uncertain global climate. However, due to the importance of gold in marriages and festivities in the country, the viability of this has been called into question. 

India has also faced issues related to gold imports, which threatened its supply chain. However, the situation has improved over the past 10 days.​

FashionNetwork.com with Bloomberg