India, Russia mulling return to rupee-rouble trade

India and Russia are mulling returning to the rupee-rouble trade arrangement to end the dependency on the volatile dollar and step up economic interactions.

India and Russia are mulling returning to the rupee-rouble trade arrangement to end the dependency on the volatile dollar and step up economic interactions.

HT Image

Indo-Russian trade till the demise of the Soviet Union was based on rupee-rouble transactions, which had resulted in India emerging as the biggest trade partner of the former USSR in the developing world with two-way trade to the tune of USD 5 billion in 1991.

"The Central Banks of the two countries have agreed to hold consultations to study the possibility of using national currencies transactions in foreign economic operations between Russia and India," Bank of Russia said in a release.

According to the Bank of Russia (Central bank), both sides discussed the issue at the 15th session of Indo-Russian working group on banking and financial matters in Hyderabad earlier this month.