The Bank of England was in the news because of the ‘gold squeeze’- traders moving gold from London to New York to profit from the price arbitrage. An informal version of this is taking place between Bangladesh and India.

India has raised import duty on gold yet again. This will drive gold smuggling, whose nearly 16% return on investment therefrom will make hedge funds envious. Apart from loss of revenue, smuggling also means greater cash flows for the underworld, and potential terror finance.