After France and UAE, Indonesia could be next in line to make UPI deal with India
United Arab Emirates to promote local currencies, India has reportedly struck a similar deal with Indonesia, with both countries working on a real-time payment mechanism and local currency trade. A TOI report says that the governments are also looking to expand the scope of digital payments between the countries, bringing the use of UPI and similar tools to the forefront.
“Both countries would discuss the possibility of cooperation in digital technology, payments systems under central banks and using local currency," Indonesian finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Sunday. The issue came up for discussion during Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s meeting with her Indonesian counterpart Indrawati as the two countries announced the launch of ‘Economic and Financial Dialogue’, focused on intensifying trade and investment relationship.
According to officials, the currency arrangement is likely similar to the one with the UAE, which would mean Indian exporters could settle their trade in Indonesian rupiah, while the other party could earn in Indian rupees. Indonesia is one of India's regular trading partners, with the two countries seeing trade of around $39 billion last year.
Indonesia was India’s sixth largest trading partner in 2022 and enjoyed a trade surplus of $19 billion, thanks to large shipments of palm oil and petroleum. The island nation is also the subcontinent's largest trading partner in the ASEAN region and is among the largest economies in Asia.
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