(IDEX Online) - Bank of America is forecasting a 15 per cent increase in diamond prices this year, amid the ongoing squeeze on supplies.It says supply of diamonds is now the lowest since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. And the US currently accounts for a half of global demand, says the bank, one of the world's largest financial institutions.Sanctions on Russia, over its invasion of Ukraine, have resulted in acute shortages of rough, especially smaller goods. And China's zero-tolerance policy on Covid has hit luxury spending."We see the fundamentals remaining price-supportive short term; we expect global supply to peak at 114m carats in 2023," Jason Fairclough, the bank's head of EMEA metals and mining research, told the financial news website MarketWatch. By comparison, the pre-Covid figure for 2019 was 142m carats.