Akshata Sharma
Share
The Black Day for Gold: How Rs 10 lakh crore wealth got destroyed in a single day
The fall in gold prices primarily impacts Indian households, who own some of the largest reserves of gold across the world.
The pen is known to be mightier than the sword, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proved it in one fell swoop.
By announcing a cut in gold customs duty in the Union Budget 2024, gold prices tumbled over five percent, wiping off over Rs 10.7 lakh crore in value in a single day.
When compared to the equity markets, this move caused the sixth-largest wealth erosion recorded so far.
More importantly, the wealth destruction is likely to have hit far more households than the damage caused by the big falls in equities because the number of households owning gold is far higher in comparison.
The fall in gold prices primarily impacts Indian households, which combined, own some of the largest reserves of gold across the world.
Cürrently, Indian households own approximately around 11 percent of the entire world's gold. This is more gold than large, developed nations like the US, Germany, Switzerland and the IMF combined.
Why did gold prices fall on Budget Day?
Since the year began, gold prices had been on a tearaway rally, jumping 14.7 percent and outperforming the Sensex, which has risen around 11 percent during the same time.
--Advertisement--
