Colombo

Indiaand Sri Lanka have discussed ways to enhance trade settlement in local currencies to reduce transaction costs and insulate the bilateral trade from dollar volatility.

Local currency settlement reduces transaction costs, eliminates conversion losses in both directions, and insulates bilateral trade from dollar volatility, said Santosh Jha, Indian High Commissioner.

"And for Sri Lanka specifically, it reduces pressure on scarce hard currency reserves - preserving dollars for uses where they are truly necessary, while rupee-to-rupee trade flows freely between our two economies," Jha said here at a round-table discussion on 'Rupee to Rupee: Strengthening the India-Sri Lanka Commercial Corridor' on Monday. The event, organised by the Indian High Commission in Colombo, brought together representatives from government institutions, banking and financial sector organisations, industry leaders, importers, exporters, and business stakeholders from both countries. The participants discussed opportunities to deepen India-Sri Lanka economic and commercial engagement through enhanced use of local currencies.