GIFT City joins global financial hubs

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the foreign currency settlement system on Tuesday at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), marking a major step towards enhancing India’s standing as a global financial hub.

- Subhana Shaikh [e-mail]

The system will enable the real-time settlement of foreign currency transactions within GIFT City’s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), eliminating the delays that can last up to two days under the existing correspondent banking mechanism.

“Transactions in foreign currency by entities in IFSC are today settled through correspondent banking arrangements routed via multiple Nostro banks (foreign banks with which a domestic bank holds an account), often with a lag of up to 36 to 48 hours,” Sitharaman said at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai.

The system will improve liquidity management and operational resilience, while ensuring compliance under the Payment and Settlement Systems (PSS) Act.