INDIA'S RECORD GOLD IMPORT WAS DUE TO AN ERROR IN CALCULATION

A surge in gold imports that widened India's trade deficit to a record last month and pushed the rupee to an all-time low was due to an error in calculation, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

- Bloomberg

Officials double-counted gold shipments in warehouses following a change in methodology in July, the people said, asking not to be identified ahead of an expected formal clarification. Attempts are on to reconcile the data, which could have been over-estimated by as much as 50 tonnes in November or almost 30% of total imports of the precious metal that month, some of the people said. If an error is indeed identified, the trade figures are likely to be revised and traders could expect some correction in the forex rat