The government on Wednesday permitted international trade settlements in rupees under the foreign trade policy for export promotion schemes. According to a statement by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, "The government has made suitable amendments in the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedures to allow for international trade settlement in Indian rupees."
"Given the rise in interest in internationalisation of Indian Rupee, the given Policy amendments have been undertaken to facilitate and to bring ease in international trade transactions in Indian Rupees," the statement further said.
The ministry said that the changes have been notified for, imports for exports, export performance for recognition as status holders, realisation of export proceeds under advance authorisation and duty-free import authorisation schemes, and realisation of export proceeds under export promotion capital goods scheme.
On Wednesday, the rupee rose by 45 paise to close at 81.47 (provisional) against the US dollar. This was mainly on account of the fall in crude oil prices, dollar weakness and sustained foreign fund inflows.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 81.43, and witnessed an intra-day high of Rs 81.23 and low of Rs 81.62 during the session. The rupee had settled at 81.92 against the US dollar on Monday. On the occasion of 'Gurunanak Jayanti', the forex market was closed on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.18 per cent to 109.83.
According to foreign exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,948.51 crores on Monday.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 151.60 points (0.25 per cent) to end at 61,033.55, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 45.80 points (0.25 per cent) to 18,157.00.