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Finance & Economics
財經版塊
Gold demand in India
印度的黃金需求
Carrot and stick
胡蘿卜加大棒
India's booming demand for bullion is worrying the government
印度激增的黃金需求讓政府忐忑不安
Covid-19 hit India hard, leaving millions jobless and struggling to get by.
新冠疫情讓印度遭受了重創，數百萬人失業，民眾生活艱難。
Yet Sachin Rana, who runs a jewellery stall in New Delhi’s Malviya Nagar market, says sales have been booming since lockdowns ended.
然而，在新德里的馬爾維亞納加爾(Malviya Nagar)市場經營一家珠寶攤位的薩欽·拉納卻表示，自疫情封鎖結束以來，珠寶銷量一直在激增。
After months in isolation, consumers were keen for a blowout during Diwali, a festival in November.
在與世隔絕幾個月之后，消費者們迫不及待地想要在11月的排燈節期間來一場狂歡。
A bumper wedding season has followed, creating plenty of occasions to wear jewellery or give it as a gift.
緊隨其后的便是盛大的婚禮季，佩戴珠寶或送珠寶禮物的場合大大增加。
The pandemic has proven that “Indians will never stop buying gold”, says Mr Rana.
拉納表示，這場疫情已經證明，“印度人永遠不會停止購買黃金”。
Pent-up demand for pendants and parties pushed bullion sales to the highest on record in the last quarter of 2021, reckons the World Gold Council, an industry body that has tracked consumption since 2005.
自2005年以來一直跟蹤黃金消費的行業機構世界黃金協會(World Gold Council)估計，對吊墜的潛在需求以及各種聚會讓黃金銷量在2021年第四季度達到了歷史最高水平。
Indians picked up around 340 tonnes of gold over the period, equivalent to the weight of five healthy Indian elephants every week.
在此期間，印度人共囤積了約340噸黃金，相當于每周囤積5頭健康的印度大象的體重。
India’s special relationship with gold predates covid-19, of course.
當然，印度與黃金的特殊關系早在疫情之前就存在了。
It is the world’s second-largest market for the yellow metal, behind China, though it produces almost none at home.
雖然印度國內的黃金產量幾乎為零，但它是僅次于中國的世界第二大黃金市場。
This is partly driven by tradition.
這在一定程度上是因為傳統因素。
Brides are given jewellery as part of their dowry and it is deemed auspicious to buy bullion around certain religious festivals.
珠寶往往會作為新娘的嫁妝，而且在某些宗教節日期間購買金條被視為一種吉兆。
It is a handy store of undeclared wealth, too, often stashed in wardrobes or under the mattress.
黃金還是一種便攜的、未經申報的財產，通常會被藏在衣柜里或床墊下。
But the pandemic has also affirmed an investment advice passed on over generations: park savings in gold as a rainy-day fund.
但新冠肺炎疫情也證實了一條代代流傳下來的投資建議：儲蓄黃金以備不時之需。
In the past two years many families have made ends meet by selling jewellery, ornaments, bars and coins at pawn shops and informal markets.
在過去的兩年中，許多家庭通過在當鋪和非正式交易市場出售珠寶、飾品、金條和硬幣來維持生計。
Others have borrowed against the stuff.
還有人用這些物品作為抵押進行貸款。
The three largest non-bank financial companies offering gold loans saw their assets jump by 32%, 25% and 61% year on year, respectively, in 2020.
2020年，三大提供黃金貸款的非銀行金融公司的資產分別同比增長32%、25%和61%。
Gold’s appeal as a safe haven is only rising: as tensions escalate in Ukraine, its price is approaching records.
黃金作為安全避風港的吸引力只會上升：隨著烏克蘭緊張局勢的升級，其價格正在接近紀錄。
