India’s Rupee on currency watchlist of US: India sees no logic in this, other developed and developing economies listed too

While the recent report on currency manipulation does not name India as a manipulator, it does put India on a monitoring list of currency manipulators along with other 10 countries. Seeing this semi-annual report, an Indian trade ministry official stated this as illogical.

Under Trump’s administration, China was listed in the manipulator’s list. However, under Biden’s administration, China is moved to the monitoring list of currency manipulators. The 11 countries listed are Japan, South Korea, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Mexico, according to US news. These 11 countries are listed lower than Vietnam, Switzerland and Taiwan.

Anup Wadhawan, India's commerce secretary told reporters, "I don't understand any economic logic.” He said this while commenting on this watchlist as none of the countries has US economic sanctions against them due to alleged currency manipulation. He added that the Reserve Bank of India is following a policy that allows currency movements based on market forces. The official said India's trade surplus with the United States had gone up by nearly USD 5 billion in the financial year 2020/21 that ended on March 31, according to Reuters.

In recent months', rupee became Asia's worst-performing currency due to rising COVID-19 cases and fear of another complete lockdown.