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New Delhi: Sanctioned Russia is seeking to settle its oil sales to India in rupees by involving the UAE, two people familiar with the matter said.
New Delhi: Sanctioned Russia is seeking to settle its oil sales to India in rupees by involving the UAE, two people familiar with the matter said.
The rupee settlement mechanism continues to face major hurdles, with little or no transactions in the national currency. This is despite the fact that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks from 18 countries to open Special Vostro Rupee Accounts (SVRA) to settle payments in Indian Rupees.
The rupee settlement mechanism continues to face major hurdles, with little or no transactions in the national currency. This is despite the fact that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks from 18 countries to open Special Vostro Rupee Accounts (SVRA) to settle payments in Indian Rupees.
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The Russian idea is to break the deadlock with a three-way payment mechanism, which works like this: Russia sells oil to India in rupees; India pays the UAE in rupees; Russia then uses the money to buy goods or services in the UAE.
“Russia wants to settle rupee trade with India through the UAE because India also imports from the UAE. This idea is why rupee-to-UAE supplies with Russia are not allowed to be cleared,” said a source with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named.
However, the above-mentioned person added that even Indian exporters currently prefer foreign exchange because they can get a forward premium – the expected future price of a currency above the spot price.
Some experts say a tripartite settlement is more effective in theory than in practice.
“Once you get into a rupee currency settlement, like a rupee-ruble trade, it’s not likely to work because we import more from Russia than we export. Countries with a strong currency for trade are fine. But all of these transactions work to the extent that a second country can use the payment to deal with a third country. If we give Russia a lot of rupees, they won’t know what to do with it, unless they are able to use these rupees through a third country [UAE]. The UAE uses rupees to import something from India,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda.
Sunitha Raju, a professor at the Indian Institute of External Trade, said the arrangement between Russia and the UAE will only be possible if India’s trade deficit with the UAE turns into a surplus.
However, Sabnavis added that most of India’s exports go to the EU and the US.
Mint Earlier reports said that India and the UAE are also discussing using the rupee settlement mechanism for trade. The UAE is India’s third largest trading partner after the US and China.
At the same time, India also plans to incentivize the rupee settlement mechanism. Mint It was earlier reported that the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) will be amended to enable exporters to claim export preferences for trade settled in rupees.
Inquiries to the Ministry of Commerce, RBI, Russian Embassy in India and UAE Embassy in India remained unanswered by press time.
Currently, incentives for exporters include duty rebates, Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) incentives, and duty and tax rebates under different government schemes such as Refund of State and Central Taxes and Levy (ROSCTL) and Relief of Duties and Taxes Exporting Products (RODTEP) is only available if payment or export realization is made in a freely convertible currency (including USD, GBP, EUR and JPY).
Trade settlements in rupees will be encouraged until banks have enough trade volume and exporters find it cheaper to settle in rupees, a government official told Mint.
Experts also said that there are multiple challenges in the rupee settlement mechanism, starting with exchange rate fluctuations and trade deficits between India and most countries.
“About a third of India’s export earnings are realized by a US bank. So it’s doubtful they’re going to use other mechanisms to help out. The banks are going to have to come on board, they’re going to have to come up with a simple and understandable directive. That Gone. The stability of the currency is another key element of the mechanism. The U.S. dollar is currently the preferred currency because of its global acceptability and stability,” said former Indian trade service official and founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI). People say.
RBI has approved 60 domestic and foreign authorized dealer banks to open special rupee vostro accounts (SRVA) for correspondent banks from 18 countries, according to data submitted to Parliament on March 14.
These countries include Botswana, Fiji, Germany, Guyana, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda and the United Kingdom, Deputy Finance Minister Bhagwat Kalla Germany in parliament.
Under this mechanism, the Indian importer will pay in rupees and the payment will be credited to the vostro account of the correspondent bank in the partner country. Likewise, Indian exporters will receive benefits in rupees from the balance of the vostro account. The RBI allows surplus rupee balances in these accounts to be used for disbursement of projects and investments, export, import advance flow management, and investment in government securities.
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