Key Points
Prime Minister Narendra Modis lie that the Congress partys election manifesto promises to usurp peoples gold, womens mangalsutrasand redistribute it to religious minorities is blatantly egregious, dangerously mischievous and morally reckless..
It turns out that it is during Modis tenure that Indian families have had to mortgage their gold to the maximum..
When people with access to formal lending channels are being forced to mortgage their gold so heavily, one wonders how rampant is such gold loan borrowing in the informal channels that the large majority of lower middle-class Indians rely upon.. Modi supporters may attempt to dismiss this data as merely a reflection of a greater push for gold borrowing by financial institutions and a shift in borrowing preferences of families, not a sign of family distress..
Of course, greater household demand for gold is a function of higher incomes and savings for families.According to data by the Ministry of Commerce, during Manmohan Singhs tenure, gold imports rose 24per centby volume and 224per centby value between UPA 1 and UPA 2.Meanwhile, inModis tenure, there has been a decline in gold imports by volume and only a 38per centincrease by value, driven by rising gold prices...
Nevertheless, when viewed in combination with other macroeconomic data of falling household savings and stagnant real incomes, it is not far-fetched to impute that household gold demand was also tepid, leading to a decline in gold imports by volume.In simple terms, household demand for gold was higher during Manmohan Singhs tenure than during Modis..
