The Indian government has recently introduced a new foreign trade policy guideline that allows the use of the digital rupee for international transactions.
According to India’s Commerce Minister, Sunil Barthwal, the new policy will make cross-border payments much more accessible for countries whose economies have been affected by the dominance of the US dollar.
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) digital currency is expected to help these countries maintain trade relationships with India, with a special emphasis on nations such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Egypt.
Minister Barthwal is optimistic that this updated foreign trade policy will position the digital rupee as a leading international currency, thus making India a prominent trading center on the global stage.
In March, the central banks of India and the UAE signed an agreement to jointly investigate the use of state-backed stablecoins in settlement processes.
India is among a growing number of nations that are supporting initiatives aimed at reducing reliance on the US dollar, at least in international settlements.
China, for instance, is a member of the BRICS community and is also pushing the adoption of its digital currency, the digital yuan, as part of a broader international shift away from the US dollar.
In February, India’s largest retail chain, Reliance Retail, started accepting the digital currency issued by the Indian Central Bank as a mode of payment.