An insight into foreign exchange matters



Awareness drive

Collector V.N. Vishnu speaking at the inaugural of RBI's exhibition on foreign exchange matters in Guntur on Tuesday. RBI Regional Director A.S. Rao (second from left) looks on



District Collector V.N. Vishnu inaugurated a two-day public interface-cum-exhibition on foreign exchange matters organised at Siddhartha Gardens on the Ring Road here by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday. The exhibition comprised stalls of the RBI, the Axis Bank, the HDFC, the SBI, the SBH, the Andhra Bank, the Syndicate Bank, and the Indian Overseas Bank. Publicity material on foreign investment in India, fictitious offers, e-mails and SMSs, Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, overseas direct investments, and a basic guidebook titled ‘Foreign exchange for you' were made available. Addressing the gathering, Mr. Vishnu said it was a good initiative taken by the RBI to spread awareness on a variety of foreign exchange transactions taking place on a sizable scale in Guntur district on account of cultivation of major commercial crops, particularly cotton and chilli. The exponential growth in remittances across the borders required businessmen and the general public to be well informed of the procedures lest they should face legal consequences of failure to comply with the statutory norms due to ignorance. The RBI would do well to organise similar events in all major towns so that people would benefit from the apex bank's financial literacy campaign, he added. RBI Regional Director A.S. Rao said liberalisation policies triggered a substantial growth in the flow of foreign currencies into and out of India. The emphasis has shifted from ‘regulation' to ‘management' (the erstwhile Foreign Exchange Regulation Act was changed to Foreign Exchange Management Act). This simplified the procedures to a large extent and the concurrent banking reforms facilitated easier ways of dealing in foreign exchange. People continue to be cheated in the conduct of foreign exchange transactions in a myriad new ways. It was, therefore, imperative that the RBI took up their cause, he said. Andhra Bank General Manager Y. Prameela Rani, DGM P.S. Subba Rao, and RBI AGM K. Mahadeva Swamy were present on the occasion.

The Hindu