India-UAE: Talks on Rupee-Dirham-based trade gathered pace, says Piyush Goyal

New Delhi [India], June 12 (ANI): Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that the Reserve Bank of India and Central Bank of the UAE are in active dialogue for a Rupee-Dirham trade mechanism.

“Talks for in Rupee-dirham are progressing at a fast pace and the Finance Ministry of India is very supportive of it,” Goyal said addressing the first meeting of the joint committee of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
“If we recall in March 2022 when we got talking about how we can make business more attractive between the two countries how we can help our business persons reduce operating costs and transaction costs. Dialogue of the Rupee-Dirham trade was actually sown in that meeting. It’s just about a year since then, but both countries have made significant progress.”

He, however, did not mention any timeline on the finalization of the Rupee-Dirham-based trade mechanism.

“I can only say this that it’s progressing at a very fast pace. l and you can imagine good outcomes very soon,” Goyal added.

This development of potential Rupee-based trade followed the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) announcement — a mechanism to settle payments for international trade in rupees, especially for India’s exports. It is widely believed if the mechanism fructifies then it may go a long way in internationalizing the Indian currency rupee in the long run.

A currency can be termed “international” if it is widely accepted worldwide as a medium of exchange.