Urgent measures needed to address issue of widening trade deficit between India, Russia: S Jaishankar
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has called for urgent measures to address the issue of widening trade deficit between India and Russia. He said while India's exports to Russia stood at only $2.24 billion in April-August this fiscal, imports soared to $27.35 billion during the period. The trade deficit is aggregated at $25.11 billion. The high trade deficit is mainly on account crude imports.
The minister said Russia emerged as India's biggest supplier of crude oil, which is converted into fuels like petrol and diesel in refineries, after Russian oil was available on discount following some European nations shunning purchases from Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Addressing the India-Russia Business Forum, Jaishankar also pitched for removal of non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments to help improve the trade balance with Russia. He noted that the balance of trade needs urgent redressal since it is so one-sided. It is imperative that non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments are speedily addressed for this to happen.
He said the bilateral trade currently stands at $66 billion, and the goal of reaching $100 billion is more than realistic. Further, he advocated for mutual settlement of trade in the national currencies, especially in the current circumstances. Special Rupee Vostro Accounts are right now an effective mechanism. However, he said even in the short run, a better trade balance with national currency settlements is the answer.
