Sri Lanka imposes new gold import tax

Sri Lanka announced a 10 percent tax on gold imports Friday in what observers said was a bid to curb smuggling to India as global markets trading in the precious metal reported sharp price drops to 2010 levels. Earlier this week India - the world's largest consumer of gold - hiked import duty on the precious metal to eight percent to stem surging demand and reduce the country's ballooning current account deficit, as consumers sought to exploit the fall in prices.