KOLKATA: The US government has removed India from its monitoring list for
currency manipulation, clearing doubts over India's foreign exchange policies including undervaluation of currencies to gain export advantages.
India was first included in the in 2017 when
Reserve Bank of India had grown
foreign exchange reserves substantially by regular intervention in
foreign exchange market.
The Trump administration has also removed Switzerland from the list but expanded it to nine nations from six earlier. China, Japan, Germany and South Korea stayed on the monitoring list for possible unfair foreign exchange maneuvering to gain export advantages.
New names on the list are Italy and Ireland from EU, and three Southeast Asian countries -- Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.
The US Treasury Department prepares the list for its major trading partners.
The Department’s Currency Report published on May 28 has again decided not to label China or any other country as a currency manipulator even as two out of the three measures for currency manipulation were tightened.
It said that no country meets the criteria to be labeled as one seeking to gain unfair trade advantages over the US by manipulating its currency.
"Washington’s restraint in not labeling China a currency manipulator was a relief. Unfortunately, this would not be enough to offset the China-US trade tensions weighing on currencies," said Philip Wee, forex strategist at DBS Group Research.
Meanwhile, Indian currency opened at 69.75 against the dollar, weaker than 69.6850 at Tuesday's close.