India, UAE discussing trade in national currencies

12 Jun 2023 10:47pm
Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal (left) with UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi. Pix from Goyal's twitter page
Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal (left) with UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi. Pix from Goyal's twitter page
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NEW DELHI - India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are looking at using their national currencies in bilateral trade as they aim to grow the value of their non-oil trade to US$100 billion per year by 2030.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the UAE Central Bank have been in "active dialogue" on this issue and the Finance Ministry supports the move, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

"Both countries have made significant progress," he said.

Goyal addressed a press conference in New Delhi along with UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi.

The Indian minister hinted at wider opportunities in doing trade in national currencies.

"As far as dirham-rupee trade is concerned, currently we are looking at trading between the two countries. Once that gets operationalised, we will see whether there is potential to expand that," he said.

India and the UAE see their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which came into force in May last year, as a big boost to their burgeoning economic relationship.

Overall trade grew 16 per cent to US$ 84.5 billion in fiscal 2022-23 (April-March) from the previous year. - Bernama