India said on Monday it had no plans to use Venezuela’s local cryptocurrency ‘petro’ in oil trade with the Latin American nation, which is facing sanctions from the United States.
Responding to a question at a news conference, India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj cited an order by the country’s central bank saying it did not allow trade using cryptocurrency.
Venezuela, whose oil output is falling under pressure from the US sanctions, is offering discount on oil sales done in ‘petro’.
Indian media earlier reported that Venezuela had offered as much as 30 percent discount on oil sales to Indian refiners provided they traded in ‘petro’. India has refused.
Venezuela, for its part, has also recently suggested that it was willing to accept rupees for the oil it sells to India—another way of bypassing the US sanctions on dollar-based trade. The South American nation could then use its rupees to buy Indian food products and medicines, Indian media cited Venezuela’s envoy Augusto Montiel as saying last week.
