RBI eases rules to facilitate cross-border trade and export payments

NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made key amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management regulations to simplify and support external trade and payments.

An RBI release said that Authorised Dealer (AD) banks in India and their overseas branches can now lend in Indian Rupees to individuals and institutions in Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, including banks in these jurisdictions, to facilitate cross-border trade transactions.

In January 2025, the Reserve Bank permitted Indian exporters to open foreign currency accounts with a bank outside India for the realisation of export proceeds. Unutilised balances in these accounts are required to be repatriated by the end of the month next to the date of realisation. It has now been decided that the period for repatriation shall be extended upto three months, in case of foreign currency accounts maintained with a bank in the IFSC in India .

“The instructions contained in the Master Direction – Export of Goods and Services and Master Direction – Deposits and Accounts to effect these changes have also been amended accordingly,” the RBI release said.

The RBI had issued a statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies on October 1 this year. The move is part of continuous efforts towards ‘facilitating external trade and payments’ the Reserve Bank has made amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing and Lending) Regulations, 2018 and Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign currency accounts by a person resident in India) Regulations, 2015. (ANI)