Owing to their ability to hedge against inflation, people bought gold, precious stones and art works at a brisk pace during the second quarter (Q2) of 2021-22. This played a crucial part in jacking up the gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

       A section of economists say that this indicates the pain the informal economy went through in the quarter but was masked by the headline GDP growth at 8.4 per cent. These items, called valuables in the national accounts data, crossed the Rs 1-trillion mark even after adjusting for inflation during the second quarter of the current fiscal year. ...