Has the Indian Rupee Become the World`s Fourth Most Recognized Currency? Find Out the Facts…

India is one of the world’s largest countries in terms of population and land mass. The Indian economy is also making significant strides amidst social and economic issues, with many investors showing interest in making India a manufacturing hub.

Within that background, we came across viral social media posts that exaggerated India's financial and economic development and claimed that the Indian Rupee had become the World's fourth most recognized currency. But first, let’s take a look at how the claim was shared among social media users.

Social Media Posts

Facebook posts accompanying a short video clip claim that the Indian Rupee (INR) had become the 4^th most recognized international currency after the US Dollar, British Pound & Euro to be accepted on Currency Exchange counters across airports globally. The symbol of the Indian Rupee (₹) can be detected on the wall of the counter along with the other three currency symbols, the US Dollar ($), Pound (£), and Euro (€).

The narration further honors this achievement to the combined efforts of the government officials. Furthermore, the post states that despite many believing that INR was depreciating against the USD, it’s actually at a much more stable place, as seen below.

Facebook | Archived

The short clip went viral among Facebook users.

We noticed several posters also created as a result of this video. These posts also say that Indian Rupee has become the fourth international currency after Dollar, Pound, and Euro. In addition, some of the posts suggest that 36 countries, including Russia, agreed to replace the US Dollar with Indian Rupee.

So, we decided to investigate these claims.

Fact Check

At first, we searched for the exact location where this video was recorded. Then, using Google Maps and Reverse Image search, we found that the video location was the Hamad International Airport, Doha, Qatar.

The video depicts a foreign exchange operator Travelex Store, accepting Indian rupees, dollars, pounds, and euros in Qatar. It is one of the foreign exchange stores located at the passenger terminal at Hamad International Airport.

Below is the location map.

Below are images of the Travelex counter.

Location

The Travelex currency exchange of Qatar supports 40 foreign currencies and has not given a particular ranking for Indian Rupee. Details about these currencies, listed alphabetically, can be read from their website here. Archived.

The website of the Qatar airport also shows these details and can be reached here. Archived.

Then why is the symbol of the Indian Rupee on the wall of the currency exchange store? There are lakhs of Indians who live in Qatar, and they use the airport frequently, so putting the Indian rupee's symbol on the wall would attract Indians.

Now, we can enter the second part of the story, which said that 36 countries, including Russia and Israel, agreed to trade from INR instead of US Dollars.

Recent news says that the Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks from 18 countries to trade in the Indian Rupee. The Hindu reports that Banks from 18 countries have been permitted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to open Special Vostro Rupee Accounts (SVRAs) for settling payments in Indian rupees. The decision was taken in a background where dealing with Russia became so difficult from US Dollars due to various international sanctions against Russia. The Hindu report can be read here. Archived

The Indian Ministry of Finance answered a question from a higher parliamentary body of India (Rajya Sabha) and revealed related details. Their answer can be reached from here.

According to the Indian government, the 18 countries that have been allowed to trade from Indian Rupee are Botswana, Fiji, Germany, Guyana, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, and the United Kingdom.

“As of date, approvals have been granted by RBI to domestic and foreign AD Banks in 60 cases for the opening of Special Rupee Vostro Accounts (SRVAs) of correspondent banks from 18 countries.”, the Indian Finance Ministry says in their answer to Rajya Sabha.

Looking at the performance of INR, 2022 was one of the worst-performing years for the Indian Rupee in recent history, in which the Indian Rupee significantly depreciated against the US dollar. Although the trend continued in the first few months of 2023, the INR is now stabilized against the US dollar around the 82 Rupee mark.

The US dollar is easily the most traded currency worldwide. A recent Forbes article lists the ten strongest currencies in the world based on their relative value against the U.S. dollar, and it doesn’t feature INR. However, Indian Rupee has been a popular currency for a few years and is among the world’s top 5 most popular currencies.

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Conclusion

According to our investigation, we found out that the viral social media claims about the Indian Rupee are misleading. India has allowed only 18 countries to trade from INR, but not 36 countries. However, those countries have not replaced the US dollar with Indian rupee.

And also, the Indian Rupee is not the fourth-highest internationally recognized currency. However, the Indian government has promoted the Indian rupee as an international currency & INR has been a popular currency for a few years and is among the topmost popular currencies in the world.