Dinar_OS
03-19-2006, 10:57 AM
May not be linkjable: Hope a copy is OK.
http://my.ev1.net/english/news/newsarticle.asp?articleID=50202329&subject=business
India Ponders Making Currency Convertible
View Stock Quote: Citigroup Inc: C
India is looking into making its currency fully convertible and lifting all restrictions on foreign exchange transactions, a top government official said Sunday, a decade after such plans were shelved following the East Asian economic crisis.
India's rupee currency is only partially convertible, meaning that while the market takes care of most trade-related transactions, investments flowing in and out of India also known as capital account transactions are subject to restrictions and approval by the central bank.
India will "set up a new mechanism" for making the rupee fully convertible, said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who heads the Planning Commission, the country's top policy body.
Ahluwalia's comments at a weekend business conference in Bombay came a day after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the country's economic position had become "far more comfortable" about allowing full freedom to convert rupee in foreign currencies to buy stocks, properties and other capital assets.
Singh said such moves would also help India realize its aim to make its business capital, Bombay, a financial hub in Asia.
Bankers welcomed the initiative.
"It's a good move and this is the right time to do it since the external sector is quite strong now," said Sanjay Nayar, chief executive at the Indian arm of Citigroup Inc.
India officially fixed the exchange rate until 1991, when it made the first move to allow the market determine rupee's value in relation to other currencies for select transactions.
Restrictions on most trade-related transactions and remittances were lifted in the following years.
Transactions in some capital assets have also been freed from the central bank's control, but a complete rupee free-float was delayed, fearing the country could face a crisis like the East Asian currency turmoil of 1997. That crisis devalued currencies of many countries, wrecked growth and left thousands of people unemployed.
But India's rising foreign exchange reserves, which now total $US144 billion (euro118 billion), and a strong rupee appear to have contributed to the government's latest liberal stance.
Many institutional investors are transferring savings to India because of higher interest rates and a booming stock market, and rising exports have brought in more U.S. dollars and other foreign currencies.
The Indian rupee has appreciated nearly one and half percent against the U.S. dollar so far this year.
http://my.ev1.net/english/news/newsarticle.asp?articleID=50202329&subject=business
India Ponders Making Currency Convertible
View Stock Quote: Citigroup Inc: C
India is looking into making its currency fully convertible and lifting all restrictions on foreign exchange transactions, a top government official said Sunday, a decade after such plans were shelved following the East Asian economic crisis.
India's rupee currency is only partially convertible, meaning that while the market takes care of most trade-related transactions, investments flowing in and out of India also known as capital account transactions are subject to restrictions and approval by the central bank.
India will "set up a new mechanism" for making the rupee fully convertible, said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who heads the Planning Commission, the country's top policy body.
Ahluwalia's comments at a weekend business conference in Bombay came a day after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the country's economic position had become "far more comfortable" about allowing full freedom to convert rupee in foreign currencies to buy stocks, properties and other capital assets.
Singh said such moves would also help India realize its aim to make its business capital, Bombay, a financial hub in Asia.
Bankers welcomed the initiative.
"It's a good move and this is the right time to do it since the external sector is quite strong now," said Sanjay Nayar, chief executive at the Indian arm of Citigroup Inc.
India officially fixed the exchange rate until 1991, when it made the first move to allow the market determine rupee's value in relation to other currencies for select transactions.
Restrictions on most trade-related transactions and remittances were lifted in the following years.
Transactions in some capital assets have also been freed from the central bank's control, but a complete rupee free-float was delayed, fearing the country could face a crisis like the East Asian currency turmoil of 1997. That crisis devalued currencies of many countries, wrecked growth and left thousands of people unemployed.
But India's rising foreign exchange reserves, which now total $US144 billion (euro118 billion), and a strong rupee appear to have contributed to the government's latest liberal stance.
Many institutional investors are transferring savings to India because of higher interest rates and a booming stock market, and rising exports have brought in more U.S. dollars and other foreign currencies.
The Indian rupee has appreciated nearly one and half percent against the U.S. dollar so far this year.