Foreign trade in rupee no great shakes despite surge in vostro accounts

Teething troubles in exchange rate mechanism, repatriation cited as roadblocks, even as Russia, African and Gulf nations and a few others evince interest in rupee-denominated trade

Even as several private and public sector banks have opened special rupee vostro accounts to facilitate overseas trade in the rupee, the mechanism has started off only on a brief scale, a senior government official said.

“This is a new initiative, and there are teething troubles relating to the exchange rate mechanism and the repatriation of money. So, it has not fully taken off. But there are isolated instances of some banks that have started it,” said Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi, adding that there are exporters in Jaipur and other places that have started the