And the preconditions - size of the economy and a dominant share of global GDP, globally dominant businesses, extraordinary military capabilities etc. limit the prospects of owning an international currency to any but the largest few economies. If that is the case, why am I talking of internationalisation of the Rupee?
I would like to clarify this point by drawing a distinction between the status of ‘Rupee as an international currency’ and the process of ‘internationalisation’ of the Rupee. Rupee as an international currency, with all its attendant privileges that we saw USD enjoys, is a state that lies well into the future.