Rupee opens at 72.65 against dollar

To stop further depreciation of rupee and widening of current account deficit, the government last week took five measures.

New Delhi: The rupee opened slightly lower at 72.55 against dollar on Tuesday. However, minutes into the trading at the Interbank Foreign Exchange, rupee recovered 10 paise to 72.41 against the US dollar .

To stop further depreciation of rupee and widening of current account deficit (CAD), the government last week took five measures and a broad policy decision to curb non-essential imports and increase exports. Rupee ended marginally higher by closing at 72.51 against dollar at the forex market yesterday. The Indian currency once again breached the 72-mark to hit a low of 72.69 (intra-day) against the US dollar.

On Friday, the rupee had gained 34 paise to close at a one-week high of 71.84 against the US dollar on positive macro data and hopes of policy intervention by the government to defend the volatile currency.

An IMF estimate today said that compared to December 2017, the real effective depreciation of Indian rupee is between six and seven percent. Broadly since the beginning of the year, "Indian rupee has lost about 11 percent of its value in nominal terms vis a vis the US dollar", said IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice, responding to a question on the fall of the Indian currency in the last few months.

With PTI Inputs