De-dollarisation not on the table: RBI governor

RESERVE Bank governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday downplayed the punitive tariffs being threatened by the US President-elect Donald Trump against the BRICS nations if they moved away from the dollar, saying each punitive action will have counter-actions by the affected countries.

- BENN KOCHUVEEDAN

He also stated that the government has not taken any steps towards de-dollarisation but is only looking at de-risking its domestic trade from geo-political upheavals.

"There is no de-dollarisation bid on the table," Das stressed categorically and also ruled out offering an assessment on how that will impact the rupee if higher tariffs are imposed by the US on our imports.

In responding to a media question at the customary post-policy presser here Friday, where RBI left the key repo rate unchanged at 6.5% for an 11th consecutive time but cut the cash reserve ratio by 50 basis points to 4%, the governor also said it is too early to assess how such punitive tariffs would impact the rupee, which has already been reeling under an impact of a rally in the greenback.

Responding to a question on Trump's threat to impose 100% tariffs on goods coming in from BRICS countries, including India, if there are attempts made to undermine the dollar as the world's reserve currency.