The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently revealed a relatively unconventional tool to inject liquidity into the Indian economy.
The central bank of India would buy $5 billion from the nation's banks, and pay them in Indian rupees. As part of the USD-rupee buy-sell swap auction, the banks will buy the dollars back from the RBI after three years. Through this foreign-exchange swap, the RBI apparently hopes to boost the economy, as the additional funds supplied in local currency would allow banks to have more cash at their disposal to lend and/or invest with.
The move is expected to also curb the Indian rupee’s appreciation. A strong rupee is a potential headwind to India’s exports.
RBI has scheduled the dollar-rupee buy-sell swap auction to take place on March 26.