Bank of England team in India on a familiarisation trip

A high-level delegation from the Bank of England is in India for the first time.

Paul Fischer, head-treasury, Bank of England, told Business Standard that the team is on a fact-finding mission as India has come up as one of the major emerging markets in recent times.

In a meeting organised by the Forex Dealers' Association of India, Fischer said that globally interest rates are on an upswing and the Bank of England has decided to raise interest rates as strong signals of economic growth abound. The team will be also visiting Thailand later.

Fischer is accompanied by the chief dealer of Bank of England- Martin Mallett.

The team made a customary visit to its Indian counterpart - the Reserve Bank of India and held meetings with officials.

While officials termed the visit to be a courtesy one, dealers said that the visit is aimed at having a closer look at the banking sector in the country.

They also said that with interest rate firming up around the globe, the team might take a view on the risk management systems put in place, in case there is a capital flight out of India.

Dealers also said that the team visited the State Bank of India and the business process outsourcing operations of Prudential.

Some dealers also said that with most of the Asian central banks laden with reserves, the team is also interested to find out the plans and procedures of reserve management with India being a case in point.

In the recent past, many of the central banks have been shuffling part of the reserves from dollars to euro.

Therefore the team is also expected to make a pitch for more investments in pound sterling, said a dealer. In fact, Fischer invited the audience to participate in the ensuing three treasury bond auction in England.

However, commenting on the reserve management of the RBI, Fischer said that it has to be country-specific.