According to Business Insider on December 25, India's move to achieve wider international acceptance of its currency has not been smooth.
The Asian country's oil ministry was quoted by local news agency Press Trust of India as saying that the country's push for rupees to pay for imports** had suffered setbacks and that its partners were still reluctant to accept the arrangement.
Global oil traders remain resistant to accepting rupee payments, citing higher transaction costs and foreign exchange risks associated with the Asian currency's limited global acceptance, the report said.
The country's oil ministry told a parliamentary committee that no oil imports were settled in rupees during India's 2022-2023 fiscal year, which ended in March this year, the Press Trust of India reported.
India's push to internationalize the rupee is seen as part of a broader effort by many countries, from China to Brazil, to reduce their dependence on the US dollar for international payments and investments. The movement, known as de-dollarization, has gained momentum in recent years as the United States has taken advantage of the dollar's global dominance to impose economic sanctions on countries, including Russia and Iran.
China and Russia have also been pushing to increase the use of their currencies globally, and the BRICS countries have been weighing the possibility of issuing a common currency. This year, more and more countries have joined the trend – Indonesia recently set up a task force to expand the use of its currency, the rupiah.
Last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed local importers to open dedicated offshore bank accounts, enabling them to pay their partners in rupees. (Compiled by Di Lu).
A man deposits Indian banknotes in a denomination of 2,000 rupees at a bank in Amritsar, India, May 20, 2023. (AFP).