Indian Official: De-Dollarization Remains Distant, Rupee Should Become Dominant Currency

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India’s oil and gas minister says de-dollarization is a long way away. The official emphasized his desire to conduct all transactions in rupees, expressing his wish for the Indian currency to become “the lead currency in the world.”

Indian Official on De-Dollarization

India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri stated in an interview with CNBC on the sidelines of the B20 Summit in New Delhi on Friday that de-dollarization is a long way off.

Puri explained that he expects the U.S. dollar to maintain its dominance in global trade. Commenting on factors that could dethrone the USD as the world’s reserve currency, he opined:

I don’t know what kind of change [the dollar needs to] be affected but I don’t see it … It’s not so easy.

The minister further shared that he does not see the Indian rupee challenging the U.S. dollar as a major global currency, even though it is being used in some oil transactions alongside the Chinese yuan and the Russian ruble. Nonetheless, he stressed:

I would like to be able to transact everything in rupees … I wish the Indian rupee should be the lead currency in the world. But I’m also a realist.

A growing number of countries are moving away from settlements in U.S. dollars. The BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), for example, are encouraging the use of local currencies in international trade and financial transactions.

While acknowledging a growing de-dollarization trend, the Indian minister questioned: “The main point is that … there are arrangements, but the transactions which are taking place, how many percent is coming in rupees?” He noted: “We heard about decoupling. But these international arrangements, trading arrangements, payment arrangements, these have been in place for a long time.”

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