Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Pakistan Bans Import of Duty Free Gold

From nation.com.pk

Article link

ISLAMABAD - The Economic Coordination Committee on Tuesday decided to impose a temporary ban of 30 days on duty-free import of gold.

According to SRO 266(I)/2001, dated May 7, 2001, the government has taken initiatives to diversify exports to promote the export of value-added gold jewelry. For this purpose, currently there are special schemes in operation to facilitate jewelry exporters whereby they are able to import gold without payment any duty on the condition that this gold is re-exported after converting it into value-added jewelry.

Recently however, there have been serious apprehensions that these schemes for duty-free import of gold are being abused by some unscrupulous elements and the national interest is being damaged. That is to say that instead of the duty-free gold being used for the purpose it was intended, it is being smuggled to India.

In this respect, it is noteworthy that in recent months the import of gold into Pakistan, under these schemes has seen an enormous surge which is highly abnormal.

During the period of January to June, 2013, gold worth Rs92.97billion was imported compared to Rs19.132 billion for the same period in 2012. This trend has become even more alarming since in the first 26 days of July, the import of gold under these schemes was to the tune of Rs52.549 billion.

In view of these developments, the government has taken cognizance of the apparent abuse of these schemes and decided to take some immediate steps to prevent further damage to the national economy.

The ECC decided to impose a short-term ban of 30 days on the duty-free import of gold, but this ban is purely temporary and is intended to allow the government sufficient time to re-examine the operation of these schemes with a view to speedily removing any loopholes and deficiencies. The objective of the government is to quickly restore these scheme in an improved form, so that genuine exporters of gold jewelry are facilitated in the best possible way to contribute to the national objective of increasing exports.

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Dragon Drags On - China's slowdown sends ripples of fear around world

From RussiaToday

Published on Jul 30, 2013
After years of China's rapid growth and development, the world's second largest economy appears to be slowing down. The government is expecting the lowest rate of economic expansion in more than two decades - at 7.5 percent. James Corbett, editor of The Corbett Report news website, joins RT to talk more on China and its place in the global economy.

Keiser Report - No jail for banksters in real world Monopoly

From RussiaToday

Published on Jul 30, 2013
In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the real world Monopoly board game without a jail and on which most players must pass 'go' and receive just $200 in foodstamps while a select few get to pass 'go' and collect $200 billion in bailouts, bail-ins and subsidies. 

In the second half, Max talks to precious metals expert, Andrew Maguire, about the run on the bullion banks happening right now.

Will the RBA Cut Rates Again?

This post refers to the Reserve Bank of Australia and expectations of a lowering of the cash rate at the next RBA meeting (held the on 1st Tue of each month).

From ten

Published on Jul 30, 2013
Just when they were expected to rise, approvals for new homes have fallen through the floor, which could spark another rate cut from the RBA.


It seems the Aussie dollar has already reacted to anticipated rate cut:

Chart from xe.com

Mike Maloney & Grant Williams on Gold Leasing

From whygoldandsilver


Mike Maloney on Fake Bullion Coins and Bars

Interesting discussion with Mike Maloney and James Anderson on the subject of counterfeit bullion coins and bars. Had to laugh to see them use the photo of the tungsten salted 1kg gold bar I was the first to publish on this blog here in early 2012.

Also whilst neither mention this in the video the idom "ring true" as in the phrase "that doesn't ring true" comes from the ancient testing of silver coins:

ring true
Fig. to sound or seem true or likely. (From testing the quality of metal by striking it and evaluating the sound made.) 


From whygoldandsilver

WikiLeaks on Manning verdict

From RussiaToday

Published on Jul 30, 2013
A US military judge has found Army private Bradley Manning "not guilty" of aiding the enemy. However, he was found guilty of 19 remaining charges, meaning that he still faces the possibility of up to 136 years behind bars. RT talks to Wikileaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson on the verdict and its outcome.

Finance and Liberty with Bill Murphy and Alasdair Macleod

From FinanceAndLiberty