The Indian rupee touched a record low of 14.27 against the dollar-pegged Qatari riyal in the local foreign exchange market yesterday.
Foreign exchange operators attributed a mix of factors to the free fall of the rupee vis-à-vis the greenback, prominent among them being a shortfall of the US currency back home and non-intervention by India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The demand for dollar from Indian importers is high, so there is pressure on the rupee, said S B Lal, from Trust Exchange, which is run by India’s largest public sector Bank, the State Bank of India (SBI). “There has so far not been much intervention from the RBI”, he added.
The rupee is affected from Thursday since people in India have to buy dollar, said P Narayan, from Al Sadd Exchange. “I think it (the rupee) should begin recovering from tomorrow (today),” he suggested.
According to Muzammil Hanif, Senior Vice-President of Al Fardan Exchange, the Indian exports having been hit and dwindling remittances from overseas Indians based in countries like the US where job lay-offs were becoming frequent due to the world economic gloom, were to blame for the rupee’s woes.
Muzamml Hanif said the Philippine peso was also getting weaker but not so much as the Indian currency. The exchange rate of the peso against the riyal yesterday was 13.34, down from the 12.87 levels some two weeks ago.
Source : thepeninsulaqatar.com