Treasure chest

摘要

The wardrobe of Datta Phuge, a businessman in Pune, in west India, has a new addition. Weighing 3.25 kilos and costing a quarter of a million dollars, it is a chain-mail shirt made of gold. "I always move around with bodyguards," a glittering Mr Phuge reassured the Pune Mirror. Sadly, India's gold obsession is no laughing matter. India is the world's largest consumer. Surging gold imports have helped widen the current-account deficit, which was an alarming 5.4% of gdp in the quarter to September (see chart). On January 2nd the finance minister appealed to the nation to buy less sold.