Speakers at a panel discussion at the 14th South Asia Economic Summit, or SAES, on Saturday said connectivity between the central banks of the countries in South Asia is essential before introducing the concept of common currency.
The discussion titled 'Macroeconomic cooperation and possibility of a Common Currency' was chaired by Professor Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General, Research and Information System (RSI), India.
Dr Zahid Hussain, former lead economist, The World Bank, Bangladesh, Dr Posh Raj Pandey, Senior Economic Adviser, ministry of finance, Nepal, Dr Md Habibur Rahman, Chief Economist, Bangladesh Bank, Dr Priyadarshi Dash, RIS, India, Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director, Sustainable Development policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan and Dr Ahsan H Mansur, Executive Director, Policy Research Institue (PRI), Bangladesh, among others, spoke in the session.
The speakers talked on de-dollarisation and regional trade using common currency.
They also found some difficult points including non-trade barriers, cultural barriers, bureaucratic mindset, different information and different currency exchange rates.
Despite barriers, the regional people want more trade connectivity as the weather, geography and culture of this region have similarity, so there is huge potential for common currency based trade. But it takes time, they said.