A Sri Lankan bank has opened a VOSTRO account in India with the State Bank of India, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said today(20) . This account enables to trade in Indian Rupees in bilateral trade the High Commission further said.
A Vostro account is an account a correspondent bank holds on behalf of another bank. These accounts are an essential aspect of correspondent banking in which the bank holding the funds acts as a custodian for or manages the account of a foreign counterpart.
Sri Lanka has agreed to use the Indian rupee (INR) for international trade. It comes days after the Government of India said it is looking at ways to bring countries that are particularly short of dollars into the ambit of the Indian rupee trade settlement mechanism.
Indian High Commission in Colombo said in an official Tweet that the High Commissioner discussed related matters with South Asia Regional Head of the State Bank of India Vikas Goel on Tuesday (20).
Happy to note that a Sri Lankan bank has opened vostro account in 🇮🇳 with State Bank of India to conduct bilateral trade in INR. High Commissioner discussed this & related matters with South Asia Regional Head of SBI Mr. Vikas Goel today. @TheOfficialSBI pic.twitter.com/v6KJCOVDNc
— India in Sri Lanka (@IndiainSL) December 20, 2022