Foreign Minister Ali Sabry says Sri Lanka may use Indian rupees locally.
According to Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, Sri Lanka is considering accepting the Indian rupee for use in domestic commerce. Sabry was giving a briefing to the media for President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to India on July 20-21, which was his first trip outside of Sri Lanka since he took office a year ago.
COLOMBO: In order to assist Indian visitors and companies, Sri Lanka is investigating the prospect of permitting the use of the Indian rupee for local transactions in addition to the dollar, euro, and yen, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said on Saturday.
The media was being briefed by Sabry about President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s first trip to India since taking office last year, which would take place on July 20–21.
On Friday, he spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
We have given the idea of accepting Indian rupees in addition to dollars, euros, and yen some thought, he added.
For Indian visitors and companies, allowing its direct use would eliminate the need for several currency conversions.
The two nations agreed to operationalize the Unified Payments Interface-based digital payments for further enhancing trade and transactions between businesses and regular people on Friday. The two nations noted that the decision to designate the Indian Rupee (INR) as the currency for trade settlements between the two nations has strengthened and mutually beneficial commercial links.
Following bilateral negotiations between Modi and Wickremesinghe, the two nations inked the Network to Network Agreement between NIPL and Lanka Pay for UPI application approval in Sri Lanka.
Sabry observed no opposition from China to an MoU inked with India on the development of Trincomalee as a regional centre for business, energy, and bilateral cooperation.
“We are a non-aligned state, and the only MoU we have signed is for a joint committee to explore projects that are feasible. Such open and honest negotiations, in my opinion, would not be opposed by any nation, Sabry stated.
Both leaders, according to Sabry, recognised the value of port connectivity between their nations.
Comments are closed.