RBI has advised banks not to sell gold coins to retail customers, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said a day after the government increased import duty on the metal amid widening Current Account Deficit.

"I think the RBI has advised banks they should not sell gold coins," he said at the AGM of the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) today. This is in addition to RBI's restrictions on gold imports by banks and other agencies. Banks have also been advised to restrict advances against gold coins. Both the government as well as the Reserve Bank have been taking steps to curb the gold imports, which have averaged 152 tonnes in April and May, resulting in foreign exchange outgo of about USD 15 billion. The average monthly gold import was 70 tonnes in the last fiscal.