The obscure topic of currency symbols was hot online Thursday when India unveiled a new mark for the Indian Rupee that can be official in international financial markets. The Indian rupee had no currency symbol before, simply the abbreviations Rs, Re, or INR. India’s Union Cabinet is expected to finalize the new currency symbol, a cross between the Roman letter R and its Hindi equivalent with a double slash, on June 24. Based on Europe’s recent experience with the Euro symbol, integrating the new rupee symbol could take a couple of years and cost many billions of dollars.
The rise of the rupee warrants a new currency symbol
India, the second largest democracy within the world, was lacking a unique currency symbol in world financial markets. The Deccan Chronicle reports that a design contest with the purpose of creating a currency symbol evoking the history and culture of India selected the new rupee symbol. Indian officials said the new rupee symbol will end the confusion in world financial markets resulting from the use of abbreviated Rs as currency symbols by neighboring countries like Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. As India angles to become a financial superpower, a distinct identity for the rupee also makes the currency more tradeable within the west.
Indian government seeking elite status
At the present time only the U.S. dollar, European euro, British pound and Japanese yen have unique currency symbols. The BBC reports that with its new rupee symbol, the Indian government is declaring itself a member in this elite class of world economies. Up to 36,000 entries within the rupee symbol contest were judged by a panel of artists, officials and bankers. The winner was submitted by design teacher at the Indian Institute of Technology. The contest awarded him Rs 2.5 lakh in winnings, or about $ 5,350.
Implementing euro symbol a multi-billion dollar expense
A new currency symbol is an costly and time-consuming undertaking. Suite 101 reports that it is very difficult to design because it involves rigorous testing across a wide range of technical applications like the web, banners, and mobile phones. Also, printing new banknotes demands a large investment and computer keyboards going forward must adapt. The BBC article pointed out that to update computer systems to deal with the new euro symbol cost them upwards of $ 50 billion.
Find more details here
deccanchronicle.com
bbc.co.uk
suite101.com
