The Ukraine War, especially the increased western sanctions on Russia, and the latter's strategy of countering it with cheap oil, has opened up opportunities for trading in Indian rupees.
In the past, India and the erstwhile Soviet Union had rupee-rouble trade for a time when India acutely felt dollar-shortage, but it did not continue for long.
In the immediate neighbourhood, Sri Lanka and Maldives, and at times Bangladesh, have, from time to time, mooted the idea of trading in Indian rupees, especially with third countries, when they too faced dollar-shortage or felt the pressure of American sanctions with intended partners, like Iran, for instance.
Those like Maldives also came up with the idea of a South Asian / SAARC currency, which was a non-starter because of the India-Pakistan differences that were inherent to the organisation.
But immediate neighbours especially were keen on keeping dollar out, as their small-time traders, and health and education travellers to India, apart from Indian tourists to their destinations, were losing out on exchange rate, which needed to be avoided
However, in the present context, trading in rupees has a wider reach and has triggered expectations. India has begun working out arrangements for this purpose, with close to 50 nations
While it is a welcome development, yes, questions are being asked in partnering countries, especially the smaller nations in the immediate neighbourhood, as to what would the government do to earn dollars, which they would still need for other trades, especially imports from third nations.
Or, would it lead to a situation in which those nations would be forced to carry out most of their trade only with India, which can trigger anti-India political groups protesting loudly about what they see as the 'Indian hegemon'?
Then, there is the news of China too seeking to popularising the yuan as an international currency, the latest being the Russian decision to trade in the Chinese currency
Will this lead to a clash of currencies in Asia, and what could be the consequences, especially for India and Indian businesses?
Programme
5:15 PM Registration & Hi-Tea
6:00 PM Welcome Address
Gp Capt R Vijayakumar (Retd), VSM Executive Director, Madras Management Association
Opening Remarks
Mr N Sathiya Moorthy Convenor, Policy Matters - Chennai
Address by the Speakers
Dr Suresh Babu M
Professor of Economics, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras & Adviser to Economic Advisory Council of Prime Minister
Mr M R Sivaraman, IAS (Retd)
Former Revenue Secretary, Govt of India & Former Executive Director, IMF
Mr Sanjay Kumar Partner - Public Policy & Tax
Deloitte
Q & A
7:25 PM
Vote of Thanks
Dr Suresh Babu M Professor of Economics, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras & Adviser to Economic Advisory Council of Prime Minister
Suresh Babu is a Ph.D. from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 2002 He completed his M Phil (Applied Economics) from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in 1994 and M S (Development Economics), Pondicherry Central University in 1992. His areas of research interest are Applied Macroeconomics, Industrial Economics and Trade and Development.
His Teaching and Research experience are:Assistant Professor, Dept. of Humanities, IIT Madras, Chennai from Jan 2006 to present, Research Associate, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum, Kerala from 2001-2004, Member WTO Forum on non-agricultural sector, Government of Kerala in 2003, Taught Macroeconomics at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore in 2002, Worked as lecturer at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics Pune, India in 2001, Consultant for the Asian Development Bank for identifying “Growth Potentials in Kerala’s Industrial Sector” in 2000, Taught a course on “Industrial Structure and Competitive Strategy” at the IIM, Kozhikode in 1999 and ‘Local Consultant’ for the World Bank for the preparation of the Country Economic Memorandum in 1996.
His popular writing and talks:-
Interview with Prof Jagdish Bhagwati, Financial Express, Aug 2009, Current Inflation in India, Financial Express, March 2008, Monetary Policy and the RBI, Financial Express, October 2007, Restrictive Trade Practices in Cricket, Financial Express, August 2007, Exchange rates and Exports, Financial Express, June 2007, ‘Poverty data in India’, Financial Express, March 2007, ‘Special Economic Zones in India: Some Myths and Reality’ IIT Madras, March 2007, ‘Understanding the Union Budget’, Frost and Sullivan, Chennai, March 2006, ‘Monetary Policy: An Introduction’, Tata Consultancy Services Chennai, Nov 2005 and ‘The Role of Central Bank’, Tata Consultancy Services Bangalore, Sept. 2005.
Mr M Sivaraman Ramanathan, IAS (Rtd ) Served as Union Revenue Secretary, India. He holds a Post Graduate degree in Economics from University of Madras Joining the I A S cadre of Madhya Pradesh in 1962 he has worked in various departments in the state of Madhya Pradesh and the Central Government. With over 40 years of experience he has held important positions at various levels in the Department of Finance, Planning, Finance Commission, Economic Affairs and Ministry of Commerce and Finance. He has worked as Director General of Civil Aviation & Ex-Officio Additional Secretary of Government of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation & Revenue Secretary, Government of India, Ministry of Finance, New Delhi. He has also worked as Executive Director, International Monetary Fund and was an expert Adviser to the UN Security Council Committee to Counter Terrorism. Currently he is engaged in delivering lectures on Budget, Banking, Fiscal and Monetary policies.
Sanjay leads public policy for Deloitte Asia-Pacific as well as for Deloitte India He also leads complex tax projects of Deloitte India for advance pricing agreement (APA) and mutual agreement procedure (MAP)
Sanjay also leads Deloitte’s engagements in G20@2023. This effort also includes being knowledge partner for B20 task force on inclusive supply chain for resilient trade and investment.
Sanjay was earlier with the Indian government for more than 28 years, and among many assignments there, he was India’s representative in the WTO in the TRIPS Council, the Committee of Trade and Environment, the SPS Committee and the TBT Committee, for close to 4 years. He acted as Indian Enquiry Point for SPS and TBT during that period. He was also called to draft WTO Hong Kong Ministerial declaration in 2005.
He was part of many trade agreement negotiating teams; notable among them, CECA between India & Singapore, IBSA MoU on standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment, India & the US, non-tariff barriers under SAFTA, technical regulations and conformity assessment between India & Sri Lanka.
Recently, Sanjay helped Saudi Arabian government in setting up a tax policy unit on a World bank assignment. In the past, he has been short-term consultant to ICEF (Indo-Canadian Environment Facility) and DfID on rain-fed farming projects in India. He is an IMF-empaneled tax administration assessor.
Sanjay has been Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor of public policy at the Duke University, USA since 2007, teaching courses on revenue forecasting, international taxation, and transfer pricing. He has published several academic papers on tax, transfer pricing, trade and industry issues in reputed national and international journals. His book, Royalty & FTS: Understanding tax and Business Interplay, is going to be released soon.
Sanjay has a Ph D in international trade and Master’s degree in economics from the State University of New York, Stony Brook, USA He also has a Master’s degree in physics from the University of Delhi, India
Industry experience: Energy, Resources & Industrials; Technology, Media, & Telecommunications
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