Govt, RBI trying to resolve payment issue with Venezuela: Commerce Secretary

The government and the Reserve Bank are working out a mechanism to resolve the payment issue with Venezuela, a top official said on Monday.

There are reports that Indian exporters, particularly from pharmaceuticals sector, are facing problems in getting payments from the South American country and the Indian government is in talks to have a rupee deal so that it could be adjusted against the oil payments.

Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia also said that not just in Venezuela, in Sudan Indian pharma exporters are facing difficulties in payments because of internal issues of those countries. With all these countries, Indian government is engaged, she said.

"In case of Venezuela, there has been a fair engagement. We are also in conversation with the RBI to see if an appropriate mechanism could be devised along with the RBI's assistance and the Finance Ministry's assistance to see that the payments are in some sense protected. So that is in the progress".

When asked about the agreement between India and Indonesia on non-basmati rice trade, Teaotia said both the sides are on the verge of concluding the pact.

"Indonesia is very keen to procure the non-basmati rice from India because that is what they do consume and prices are also competitive," she told reporters here.

She said that the agreement between state-run trading firm STC and its Indonesian counterpart is now being concluded. "So now, we will have a firm agreement for movement of non-basmati rice to Indonesia," she added.