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."

Comments

 

Other News

`Focus on infra, reforms, digital connectivity has created strong foundation for growth`

In a step towards the operationalisation of the Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojana (BHAVYA), union minister of commerce & industry Piyush Goyal launched the BHAVYA Portal on Monday in New Delhi.   Addressing the gathering, Goyal said that the BHAVYA scheme will adopt a competit

Govt, RBI announce major reforms to attract FPI

The finance ministry on Friday announced a series of measures aimed at enhancing the ease of investment for individual Persons Resident Outside India (PROIs) and Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs), and to attract stable long-term foreign capital flows.   Building on the recent in

Lessons in climate adaption from world’s largest inhabited river island

Majuli Island, perched between the Brahmaputra River to the south and east, the Subansiri River to the west, and a branch of the Brahmaputra to the north, has been severely affected by recurrent flooding and intense riverbank erosion. Despite its global importance in acquiring UNESCO tentative status for

Careless whispers and the impossible trinity

Time can never mend, the careless whispers of …    As the RBI marches ahead, for the upcoming monetary policy meeting this June, whispers from the corridors echo around several policy options to defend the rupee – by deploying forex reserves, raising in

Bullet Train Project: Third mountain tunnel breakthrough achieved

A major engineering milestone has been achieved in the Mumbai–Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project with the successful breakthrough of the third mountain tunnel (MT-07) at Ambesari village in Dahanu Taluka of Palghar district, Maharashtra.   With this achievement, three mountain

Supreme Court gets five new judges

Five new judges were appointed to the Supreme Court of India on Monday. "Vide Notifications of even number dated 01.06.2026, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the Hon’ble President of India is pleased to appoint (i) Shri





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter