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Q2·GS Paper 1 · Prelims 2022

Impact of NEER, REER, and inflation on exchange rates and trade

EconomyExternal Sector & TradeStatement-basedHardStatic

Question

With reference to the Indian economy, consider the following statements: Which of the above statements are correct?

  1. 1.

    An increase in Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) indicates the appreciation of rupee.

  2. 2.

    An increase in the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) indicates an improvement in trade competitiveness.

  3. 3.

    An increasing trend in domestic inflation relative to inflation in other countries is likely to cause an increasing divergence between NEER and REER.

Options

a

1 and 2 only

b

2 and 3 only

c

1 and 3 only

Answer
d

1, 2 and 3

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct; an increase in NEER indicates that the domestic currency is appreciating against a weighted basket of foreign currencies. Statement 2 is incorrect; an increase in REER implies the currency is becoming relatively overvalued in real terms, which makes exports expensive and reduces trade competitiveness. Statement 3 is correct; REER adjusts NEER for relative inflation, so a persistent inflation gap naturally drives an increasing divergence between the two indices.

A higher REER means your exports are becoming more expensive abroad, fundamentally hurting your trade competitiveness.

Answer: (c).

Question details

Year

2022

Paper

GS Paper 1

Question

Q2

Subject

Economy

Sub-topic

External Sector & Trade

Type

Statement-based

Difficulty

Hard

Nature

Static

Source hint

NCERT Economy Cl.12 / REER & NEER Indices

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