Asia’s richest banker and
Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO
Kotak Mahindra on Friday highlighted a rare opportunity for the
Indian Rupee to become global. The veteran banker made a big comment against the
US Dollar while speaking at the ET Awards for Corporate Excellence 2023, calling the currency the “biggest
financial terrorist in the world.”
“I genuinely feel that the biggest financial terrorist in the world is the US
dollar," the Kotak Mahindra Bank chief executive stated. Telling why he feels this way, Kotak stated that all our money is in nostro accounts and somebody in the US can say - you cannot withdraw it from tomorrow morning. So, you are stuck. “That is the power of the reserve currency."
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He, however, underscored how it is a crucial time in history when the world is “desperately looking for an alternative reserve currency.” Kotak, stating that, changes like these changes happen once-in-a-hundred-years, suggested that it is an opportune time for India to make
rupee the reserve currency for the world.
Kotak believes that others can’t do it. “I don't think Europe can [make their currency the reserve], because it is the disunited states of Europe. I don't think UK or Japan have the heft to be taking that position, though both the British Pound and the Yen are free currencies. China, I think, has a major issue of trust with many countries around the world," he said.
Sharing how we can make rupee the reserve currency, the veteran banker said that it is a long-sustained walk and run. “We have to get the line in India we trust. It is our time for making a shot at it which will take us probably 10 years. But I don’t think China, or the Europe could do it,” he noted.
The banker then went on to list out what must fulfil India to build the rupee as a reserve currency. The country "has to build strong institutions. It has to build a strong framework that is not dependent on the whims and fancies of anyone. India has to be trusted," according to Kotak Mahindra.
