UPSC Articles
India on U.S.’s Currency Watchlist
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II International Relations
In news
- The U.S. Treasury Department recently retained India on a watchlist for currency manipulators submitted to the U.S. Congress, citing higher dollar purchases (close to 5% of the GDP) by RBI.
Key takeaways
- Another trigger for the inclusion on the currency watchlist is a trade surplus of $20 billion or more.
- India’s trade surplus with the U.S. grew by about $5 billion to $23 billion in 2020-21 as imports fell more sharply than exports in the COVID-affected year.
- According to India, the RBI had been taking necessary steps to maintain stability in the financial markets and not accumulating forex reserves.
- It is a mandate of the central bank to provide stability in the currency as a result of which central banks buy and sell foreign currency.
- India’s overall reserves have been fairly steady at $500 billion to $600 billion.
