



dollars for its oil.Įxplained | Will RBI move help greater trade in rupee? So, Russia has demanded that India pay in U.S. Further, Russia cannot offload any excess rupees accumulated due to a trade surplus with India on to other countries since they too may not want to purchase much from India. While India wants to pay for these imports, which includes a substantial amount of oil, in rupees, Russia is unwilling to accept rupees because it does not intend to buy a similarly significant amount of Indian goods or services. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, India has significantly increased its imports from Russia. But this is easier said than done, as is apparent in the case of India’s trade with Russia this year.īusiness Matters | Settling foreign trade payments in rupees: How does it help India? dollars to import goods and to purchase foreign assets. Simply put, India can pay for its imports using rupees under this mechanism. In this context, the idea behind the rupee settlement mechanism is that if foreign trade is settled in rupees, this will free India of the need to procure U.S. This puts the rest of the world in a tricky situation wherein they could run out of dollars necessary to purchase essential imports needed to keep their economies going.

Other countries must sell sufficient goods and assets to obtain the dollars that they require to buy foreign goods and assets. banks that are overseen by the American central bank. It can also impose economic sanctions, such as those imposed in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as global trade conducted using dollars is cleared by U.S. The U.S., however, has the power to create dollars at will and to use them to purchase foreign goods and assets as long as the market has a reasonable level of trust in the value of the dollar. And to do that, they must export goods or sell domestic assets. dollars necessary to carry out these trades. This means that countries trying to import goods or purchase foreign assets must first obtain U.S. dollar is the predominant currency used to facilitate trade between countries. But things are not going to plan.Įxplained | What is the Rupee-Rouble mechanism, and why is India considering reviving it? Dollar’s preeminenceĪt the moment, the U.S. dollars from its foreign exchange reserves. It should be noted that the RBI came up with the rupee settlement mechanism amid a steadily falling rupee, hoping that the move would help India pay for its imports using rupees instead of U.S. In July, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set up a mechanism to settle India’s international trade transactions with willing countries in rupees. Russia is the only country that has shown any interest in the new arrangement for now, and nine Russian banks have been permitted to set up Vostro accounts to facilitate rupee-based trade.
