Two Bangladesh banks to offer INR transactions

Two Bangladeshi banks including the largest state-owned lender plan to introduce trade transactions in Indian rupees, officials said, as the South Asian nation looks to build up its shrinking foreign exchange reserves. Until now, Bangladesh has only carried out trade transactions in dollars.

State-owned Sonali Bank and Eastern Bank have opened “nostro” accounts in rupees with State Bank of India (SBI.NS) and ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS), officials from both banks said.

A nostro account refers to an account a bank holds abroad at another bank in the currency of that jurisdiction. Such accounts are used for international trade and to settle other foreign exchange transactions.