Commerzbank analysts highlight that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has rolled back some Non-Deliverable Forward (NDF) restrictions, allowing authorized dealers to offer NDFs, roll over and cancel related-party contracts, and use back-to-back hedging. With USD/INR stabilizing around 92.40–93.40, RBI appears more comfortable that arbitrage risks have eased, even as INR remains Asia’s weakest currency year-to-date.

RBI relaxes NDF rules on stability

"The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rolled back some of its curbs on NDFs yesterday."

"In FX, USD/INR rose 0.2% to 93.12 yesterday following the easing of restrictions on NDFs."

"Given that the USD-INR has stabilized around the 92.40-93.40 range in the past three weeks, RBI may have deemed that arbitrage risks have subsided, prompting the rollback of previous restrictions."

"RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra indicated at the 8 April monetary policy meeting that the curbs on FX derivatives are not permanent."

"Nonetheless, it remains the weakest Asian currency this year."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)