The Reserve Bank of India and Bank of Mauritius just made life easier for anyone trading between the two countries. They signed a memorandum of understanding in Port Louis that lets businesses use Indian rupees and Mauritian rupees directly. No more middleman currencies. No more unnecessary conversions eating into margins.
Both Prime Ministers showed up for the signing. That should tell you something about how seriously they're taking this. The agreement covers current account transactions and permissible capital account stuff. Translation: most legitimate business dealings between India and Mauritius can now happen in local currencies.
The pitch is simple. Faster settlements, lower costs, more efficient trade. When you're not constantly converting through dollars or euros, things move quicker. And cheaper. The two countries already have deep historical and cultural connections, so this is just making the financial side catch up.
Right now, one Mauritian rupee gets you somewhere between 1.95 and 2.01 Indian rupees, depending on where you check and when you look. The mid-market rate hovers around 1.98 INR per MUR. SBI Mauritius quotes a bid rate of 0.555 and an offer rate of 0.5781 for the INR/MUR pair. If you're doing the math backward, one Indian rupee equals roughly 0.51 Mauritian rupees.
The exchange rate has been relatively stable. Over the past thirty days, it's bounced between 1.92 and 2.02, averaging around 1.95 to 1.97. Nothing dramatic. The ninety-day picture looks similar. Back in October 2018, the RBI rate was 2.142 INR per MUR, so there's been some movement over the years, but nothing wild.
For context, 100 Mauritian rupees converts to about 198 Indian rupees. A thousand MUR gets you nearly 1,978 INR. Going the other way, 100 Indian rupees equals roughly 51 Mauritian rupees.
The real benefit isn't about current rates though. It's about reducing friction. Every conversion costs money and time. This pact strips out layers. Businesses trading between India and Mauritius now have a direct route. Like other central banks managing their forex markets, the RBI can now implement monetary strategies that support bilateral trade without relying on reserve currencies. The RBI's intervention mechanisms in the forex market can help stabilize the INR-MUR exchange rate during periods of volatility. Beyond the obvious spread savings, eliminating intermediate conversions also reduces slippage and market impact that can erode profit margins on larger transactions. That's the whole point.
