India pushes Rupee trade beyond Russia

On the lines of an arrangement being worked out with Russia, India is in talks with Sri Lanka, the Maldives and multiple south east Asian, African and Latin American countries to initiate trading in the Indian Rupee.

The countries in these geographies have shown interest in opening Special Rupee Vostro or SRV accounts. A Vostro account is an account held by a bank that allows the customers to deposit money on behalf of another bank.

The Reserve Bank of India had announced guidelines on overseas trade in Indian Rupee in July. In part, this is also aimed at curtailing India’s dollar dependence for trade, and indirectly strengthen the domestic currency.