What’s worse than a policy which scares off much needed foreign investors? A scary policy that’s also ineffective. A new Indian rule requiring exporters to repatriate half their foreign currency manages to be both. If the fear of a fast falling rupee had led Indian exporters to hoard large sums of cash in hard currencies, then the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) move might make practical sense. But by the RBI’s own estimate, this change will only bring back between $2.5 to $3 billion of capital.