What’s in the news?

• The U.S. Treasury’s ‘Monitoring List’ has placed India among the 11 countries with regard to their currency practices.
• The April 2021 edition of the semi-annual report is the first from the Biden administration. 
• India was on the list in the December 2020 report as well.

Criteria

• The report on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States, which is submitted to the U.S. Congress, reviews currency practices of the U.S.’s 20 biggest trading partners. 
• Three criteria are used to review partners: 
  • a significant (at least $20 billion) bilateral trade surplus, 
  • a material current account surplus, and 
  • ‘persistent one-sided intervention’ in forex markets.

Other Countries

• The other 10 countries on the list with India are China, Japan, Korea, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Mexico. All of these, except Ireland and Mexico, were on the December 2020 list.
• India met two of the three criteria — the trade surplus criterion and the “persistent, one-sided intervention” criterion, according to the U.S Treasury Department.

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/business/us-treasury-keeps-india-on-currency-watch-list/article34339096.ece