August 2023 Newsletter

Rs. 2000 ban status.

On May 23^rd 2023 RBI sent a circular that Rs.2000 notes will be accepted and banks will be able to convert the notes currently in circulation to lower denomination. As of today more than 83% of the in-circulation notes have come back to RBI. For NRI’s you can still get them converted at your banks when you make a visit next time or NRI Support Centre can help you with that as well till Sept 30^th 2023. It’s pretty clear now that the deadline will be postponed now that the initial objective is almost achieved.    

Rupee Strength:

We had a wonderful summer trip to Nepal with my family past month. I was told that Rupee was accepted widely and so were Indian debit and credit cards. This myth was soon busted once we arrived there. Though most local hotels do accept INR, there is a clear reluctance. Also, most of the debit cards and credit cards issued in India have disclaimers that they can’t be used in Nepal and Bhutan. Though I was also swayed by the speeches of Rupee strength and dealings by the Govt of India, Nepal trip gave us a teaser that a lot of work needed to be done for Rupee to be more widely acceptable. The savior were the US issued debit and credit card that worked without issues. With a rising dollar and reduced liquidity of Indian Rupee as cited by Russia and Arab countries there is a long way for Rupee to show its true might to the world.

Investing in ETF’s:

In the last issue we discussed about Depository Receipts as an option for NRI’s to invest in India. In this issue we discuss about another option – Indian focused ETF’s. With the India growth story capturing the eyes of investors there are loads of ETF’s that are available for NRI’s across the globe to invest. The tickers of INDY, INDA, FLIN, DGIN are all India focused funds that provide you with India exposure to both Bonds and Equity market sitting in your home country and leveraging your Brokerage account. I would say this is the most convenient and secure way to exposing yourself to the India growth story. If you need help in choosing which one suites you the best – email us at enquiry.beyondsyllabus@gmail.com.

Will in India:

“Where there is a will there is a way” – I feel this quote is more appropriate when you apply it to the Will scenario. If you are an NRI, I am sure you have thought of making a will for your assets in your home country (US / UK / Australia etc). But have you thought if the will is applicable in India? In most scenarios it won’t simply because the jurisdiction issues. Best is to have a will drafted and executed in India for all of your India assets. In some cases creating a Trust might also be very helpful. If you need help with Will and Trust in India please send e-mail to enquiry.beyondsyllabus@gmail.com and we can help you at very affordable prices.

Key Personal finance term – Credit Rating:

A credit rating is an evaluation of the likelihood of a borrower defaulting on a loan. Credit reporting companies provide information about your financial behavior to lenders to help them decide whether to lend you money. In India CIBIL score is prevalent and now is a key decision no. for lenders to dole out a loan for you. It ranges between 300 – 900, a range of 750 and above is reasonable. You can get your CIBIL score before applying for a large housing loan project for a small amount.