India wants to trade with Tanzania in local currency

Samia Suluhu Hassan, the president of Tanzania, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met on Sunday in New Delhi.

Indian Foreign Ministry official Dammu Ravi has stated that India is looking at the potential of trading local currencies with Tanzania. He continued by saying that the topic was raised during the recent trip to New Delhi by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

“We are looking into new opportunities for collaboration, like trading in regional currencies. The two leaders have talked on a number of things, according to Ravi, who said as much during a press conference on Monday.

Ravi claims that in addition to the $1.1 billion that New Delhi had previously promised, the East African nation has also requested further lines of credit from India in the defence and other sectors.

The leaders expressed a desire to increase bilateral trade utilising Tanzanian shillings and Indian rupees, according to a joint statement issued after the meeting between Hassan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

READ ALSO: Visit by Tinubu to India: negative management and leadership in Nigeria

The leaders added that by permitting authorised Indian banks to open Special Rupee Vostro Accounts (SRVA) of correspondent banks in Tanzania, the Reserve Bank of India has paved the road for transactions conducted in local currencies.
The announcement claims that the mechanism’s first transactions have already started.

According to the statement, “the two sides agreed to continue the consultations to address any concerns so as to ensure the sustainability of this arrangement.”

The parties also agreed to increase the volume of their bilateral trade, look into new business opportunities, and consider the viability of establishing an investment park in Tanzania.

The two leaders discussed the “full range of India-Tanzania relations and have elevated our time-tested relation to a Strategic Partnership,” Modi tweeted on X (previously Twitter), adding that he had a “excellent meeting” with President Hassan.

“Our nations have made the decision to collaborate in order to create a five-year plan in the defence industry. According to him, this will help the defence industry, marine cooperation, capacity building, and military training.