High price of gold has forced consumers to refrain from fresh orders leading to a 38% slump in India’s gold demand in the June 2009 quarter. Global jewellery demand in that quarter has slipped 22% to 404.1 tonnes taking the overall consumption to 569.7 tonnes, 14% lower than in the June 2008 quarter. In the 12 months till June 2009, bank deposits grew 22% year-on-year which suggests that consumers have preferred to stay invested in cash because of the global economic downturn and volatility in gold price.