India, Japan to widen currency swap to $50 b

India and Japan have decided to more than triple their bilateral currency swap arrangement to $50 billion, a development that is likely to bring stability in financial markets in the country.

"Indian and Japanese governments have decided to expand their bilateral currency swap arrangement from $15 to $50 billion. It is expected that this will contribute to the stability of financial markets," the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement.

The central government and the RBI will discuss and finalise the terms of the enhancement of the swap arrangement with their Japanese counterpart.

Earlier in December 2012, the two countries had entered into a bilateral currency swap arrangement for $15 billion.

"This arrangement aimed at addressing possible short-term liquidity mismatches and supplementing existing international financial arrangements, is part of the effort to strengthen mutual cooperation between Japan and India," RBI said.

Earlier, the two countries had a similar arrangement for $3 billion for three years from June 2008.

The rupee had almost touched the low of 69 against the US dollar last month on the back of huge capital outflows and high current account deficit.

However, the rupee has strengthened and today closed at at 65.24 versus the US dollar, up 77 paise or 1.17 per cent over Thursday.