An increase in the import duty on precious metals has led to a significant shortage of physical silver in India, pushing premiums to six-month highs. The Indian government announced the 9 percent duty increase in May. The change pushed the import tax on gold and silver from 6 to 15 percent. As Metals Focus explained, the move was meant to stabilize the rupee as oil prices spiked. “Amid elevated oil prices, India’s current account deficit (CAD) has widened. To help reduce the CAD, the government has tried to curb precious metals imports (the second largest category in value terms after crude oil), accounting for 7-10 ... (full story)