Prime Minister: Indira Gandhi

The Age Of Stars

Partition, planning, aid consortia and nationalised banks.

Vol. XCIVThe edition of 1968 · The Planned Republic4 records
Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi
President
Zakir Husain
Finance Minister
Morarji Desai
RBI Governor
L. K. Jha

Bank Rate

5%

−1 pts on 1967

Rupee per dollar

₹7.5

unchanged on 1967

Inflation

3.24%

−9.82 pts on 1967

GDP growth

3.39%

−4.44 pts on 1967

Reserves

$730m

+10% on 1967

Arabian Light

$1.8

unchanged on 1967

London gold · 17 March 1968

Collapse of the London Gold Pool; two-tier gold market

Private-market gold separated from the official USD 35/oz

Increased the gap between the domestic Indian gold price and the world price, and so the incentive to smuggle. India's Gold (Control) Act followed in 1968.

ReportedOfficial record. Source: BIS / Bank of England history

Trade & Tariffs

1 item

Gold (Control) Act 1968

Morarji Desai's 1963 Gold Control Rules were made statutory

Private holding of primary gold was banned and goldsmiths were limited to 14-carat work. Smuggling increased as a result.

ReportedOfficial record. Source: Wikipedia "Gold (Control) Act, 1968", citing Act No. 45 of 1968

The Ledger: what was borrowed in 1968

Full ledger →
CreditorInstrumentAmountUS$ mStatusGrade
Aid India Consortium (hard lenders France and Japan carried 55%)Consortium debt relief (rescheduling, not a Paris Club agreement)100doneverified
Aid India Consortium members (World Bank-chaired; US, UK, W. Germany, Japan, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria)Debt relief (rescheduling / refinancing of service due)100 USD mn100Agreed 1968. Relief arrangements continued at consortium meetings to 1976.reported

Rows are listed as recorded. Some describe the same loan from different sources and must not be added together.

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