New Delhi, Aug. 18 -- Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) declared that its special forex swap facility for Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR-B) deposits with banks would close on 31 August, a month ahead of schedule.

This news came within days of RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra saying there was "no proposal under consideration to close the scheme prematurely" at a post-policy press conference.

Presumably, this change of mind was driven by a change in facts: in particular, the robust response from overseas Indians-with $52.3 billion drawn already, banks can expect more dollar deposits by month-end-and finds justification in the governor's qualifying remark that RBI had no specific target.

Going by the numbers, the decision to cal...