The government had registered the bill at the parliament secretariat last Tuesday following its approval by the cabinet. [break]
The government sought parliamentary approval for the bill after the validity of the ordinance introduced to increase customs duty on gold imports expired on September 3.
Under the ordinance, the government had increased customs duty on gold to Rs 470 per 10 grams from Rs 130 in an effort to check smuggling of the yellow metal to India where the customs duty was far higher than in Nepal.
An alarming rise in imports of gold out of all proportion to the consumption capacity of the country and the consequent widening of trade deficit had prompted the government to introduce the ordinance six months ago.
To avert serious implication following termination of validity of the gold ordinance, the government decided recently to ban gold imports. The ban was been enforced as per Article 3 of the Export Import (Control) Act 2056, which authorizes the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies to ban the imports or exports to protect national interests.
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