Billions of Indian rupees deposited with Russia, unable to be used

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Russia has deposited billions of rupees in Indian banks, which it cannot use. This is a problem, Lavrov told reporters in Goa on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting. Is. We want to use this money, Lavrov said. But for this, these rupees have to be transferred to another currency, and this is being discussed now.

Actually, the ongoing talks between India and Russia regarding trade in rupees have failed. Even after months of negotiations, India has not been able to persuade Russia to keep Indian currency in its treasury. After which efforts to settle bilateral trade in rupees have been suspended.

According to experts, Russia's problem is that the Indian rupee cannot be completely converted into the currency of other countries. India's share in global exports is only 2 per cent, due to which most countries do not want to keep the Indian rupee with them.

The Reserve Bank of India announced a payment mechanism in rupees in July 2022. Since then, India has also paid in rupees several times for trade with Russia. Due to this, billions of rupees from India are lying in the banks of Russia. Russia cannot use that money for international trade because the West has imposed sanctions on it. In such a situation, the rupees lying in his banks are losing their value.

India and Russia talked about facilitating trade in local currency but the guidelines have not been formalised. India pays for most of its trade with Russia in dollars. But now some part of the trade is also being paid in dirham, the currency of UAE.