Why Chances of India Being Named a Currency Manipulator Are Slim

  • U.S. puts India on watchlist despite current account gap
  • India’s central bank has been buying dollars in the past year
Indian two thousand rupee banknotes are arranged for a photograph in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a tough balancing act in this week's budget: maintaining fiscal prudence or handing out cash to placate rural voters ahead of next year's election.Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg
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India made a surprising entry on the U.S. Treasury’s currency watchlist last week, but it’s some way from being labeled a manipulator of the rupee.

The Treasury cited India’s “significant” trade surplus with the U.S. and increased purchases of foreign currency last year as reasons for more scrutiny of the Asian economy. Taiwan and Thailand, both of whom run significant current account surpluses and whose central banks have actively intervened in currency markets, weren’t added to the list.