UPSC Articles
US Puts India on Currency Watchlist
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – International Relations & GS-III – Economy
In news
- Recently, the US treasury has placed India on its currency manipulator watch list.
- Vietnam and Switzerland have been labelled as currency manipulators.
Key takeaways
- USA lists those countries which it feels are engaging in unfair currency practices by deliberately devaluing their currency against the dollar.
- The US Department of Treasury releases the semi-annual report where it has to track developments in international economies and inspect foreign exchange rates.
- Lowering the value of its currency provides an unfair advantage to that particular country over others.
- This is because the devaluation would reduce the cost of exports from that country and artificially show a reduction in trade deficits as a result.
- A country which meets two of the three criteria of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 is placed on the Watch List. This includes: (1) A significant bilateral trade surplus with the US which is at least USD 20 billion over a 12-month period; (2) A material current account surplus equivalent to at least 2% of GDP over a 12-month period; (3) Persistent one-sided in at least six out of 12 months.
- Inclusion in the list does not subject to any kind of penalty and sanctions but it deteriorates the global financial image of the country.
