Finance Minister to meet bankers on December 5 for cross-border trade in rupee

New Delhi, November 29

The Finance Ministry has called a meeting of CEOs of banks, including top six private sector lenders, on December 5 to discuss ways to promote cross-border trade in the rupee instead of the US dollar.

Nine special vostro accounts opened

• Following guidelines from the RBI, nine special vostro accounts have been opened with two Indian banks to facilitate overseas trade in the rupee

Besides, sources said the meeting to be attended by other stakeholders, including senior officials of external affairs and commerce ministries, will review the progress made on this front so far.

Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi will chair the meeting and is also likely to see attendance from representatives of the RBI and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), sources said.

Sberbank and VTB Bank — the largest and second-largest banks of Russia, respectively — are the first foreign lenders to receive the approval for special vostro accounts with two Indian banks.