Prices of imported air-conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines are set to go up as the government has doubled the duty on these items, among others, as a measure to reduce imports and rein in current account deficit (CAD). The government on Wednesday hiked customs duty on as many as 19 non-essential items including air-conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, footwear, diamonds, jewellery and jet fuel to rein in import of these commodities. The duty rate hike will be effective from Thursday. The total value of imports of these items in the year 2017-18 was about Rs 86,000 crore, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. “The hike in import duty on the identified non-essential items is likely to have a modest impact on curtailing the size of the CAD in fiscal year 2019, which is estimated to touch around 2.8% of the GDP,” said Aditi Nayar, an economist.

Source: dna September 26, 2018 23:48 UTC