India, Sept. 3 -- The forex swap facility, including an FCNR deposit scheme, launched in June has attracted $136.4 billion in foreign currency, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Wednesday. What are its larger macroeconomic implications? Three of them can be listed.

The scheme was launched as a one-time foreign currency mobilisation effort in the wake of weak capital flows to India, which could have put pressure on the external account despite a relatively benign current account deficit. The objective has been achieved for now. However, the FCNR deposit scheme is a one-time arrangement that can't be deployed on a more regular basis to manage current account deficits. Capital flows will need to revive going forward.

While the scheme...