Coronavirus impact: RBI offers $2-bn swaps to deal with currency swings

In a statement on its website, the RBI said it was doing the swaps in view of the intense selling pressure witnessed worldwide on 'extreme risk aversion due to the spread of COVID-19 infections'

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday moved to address the dollar shortage in the market by offering a $2-billion swap for six months — a step that should ease pressure on the rupee, which is marching towards its record low.

The RBI will do a sell-buy swap, which means the central bank will sell dollars in the market now and buy them back six months down the line (or decide to roll over). 

In March last year, the RBI had done buy-sell swaps for three years. Then, it had bought dollars in the spot market to infuse immediate rupee