With India's share in international trade at miniscule levels till a few years back, the excitement of the currency market was no more than a matter of curiosity and passing interest to an overwhelming majority of Indian businesses. The market was neither deep enough nor wide enough to facilitate big-time, complex operations. Sophisticated risk management products did not appear really relevant.

Not any longer. External trade volumes have grown significantly and at a significant rate. The number of companies foraying into overseas markets and availing themselves of cross-border capital and funding options has shot up in recent years. The increased volumes of India's international trade have occurred, coincidentally, in global markets, becoming more and more complex and riskier by the day.

India's management students and young managers (and, for that matter, the older managers, who, hitherto, couldn't care less about international trade, but are now faced with new business paradigms thrust upon them) need to smarten themselves up considerably in this area to meet the challenges awaiting them in the marketplace. It would be a good idea to pick up a simple, easy-to-read, smartly written primer on the currency market. Which is just what the book now under review is.

The book seeks to address some basic questions like what currency markets are, what forex risk is, and how to manage it, apart from dwelling, in reasonable detail, on the features of derivative products in the currency markets, and does so successfully. The writer's years of experience as a banker ensure that the treatment is not just textbook-like, but packs in live illustrations to provide a much-needed hands-on perspective.

Currency Market Derivatives, International trade markets, Global forex markets, Risk management, Global economy, Exchange rate management, Marketing management, International financial markets, Financial derivatives, Global markets, Exchange rate behaviour.