Rupee fall 'temporary phenomenon': govt

Currency depreciation a result of high current account deficit, says chief economic adviser Raghuram Rajan

GN Bureau | June 10, 2013



Not taken aback by the record low the value of rupee hit against the US dollar on Monday, the government has called it a “temporary phenomenon”. The finance ministry also said there is no need to panic at the fall of rupee.

“Weakness of rupee is consistent with other emerging market of the world. India has a large current account deficit (CAD). Emerging markets with larger current account deficit has been depreciating more. This could be a temporary phenomenon,” chief economic adviser Raghuram Rajan said on the sidelines of a workshop on small businesses, organised by the ministry of finance and the World Bank in the national capital on Monday.

According to Rajan, the government is not supportive of such volatility of rupee and will work on medium-term measures.

The rupee hit a record low on Monday, touching 57.98 against the dollar and surpassing the previous all-time low of 57.32 set in mid-2012.

Despite this, Rajan said, the government does not have in mind any specific level at which the rupee should be. “The government is taking measures to find a level consistent with the sustainable growth of the country,” he added.

Some of the measures the government has taken to address the free fall are curbs on buying gold and felicitating exports. For the October-December quarter of 2012, India’s current account deficit touched a record 6.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

“If you see weakening of all currency vis-a-vis dollar, rupee is also not unaffected in that sense. But I think this is panic (in) the market which is unwarranted,” economic affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram told reporters on the sidelines of the conference.

The entire Asian region is apprehensive after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke talked of scaling back monetary stimulus with improvement in economic conditions in the US, Mayaram said. He said the volatility of rupee started with Bernanke’s recent statement on quantitative easing (QE).

“They have now more than clarified that this (QE) is not imminent, neither is it going to something which will happen quickly. I think this will settle down in a while. We should not worry but we are watching the situation closely."

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