Rupee plunges further, sinks past 68.50 Vs dollar.

New Delhi: The rupee on Wednesday plunged further by 251 paise to record low of 68.75 against the US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange on strong demand for the American currency from banks and importers and persistent capital outflows.

The rupee had ended down 194 paise at 66.24 against the US dollar after hitting an intra-day low of 66.30 in the previous session.

Forex dealers said besides strong demand for the American currency from importers and banks, dollar's strength against other currencies overseas amid expectation that the Federal Reserve will soon taper its bond-buying programme weighed on the domestic currency.

They said several measures announced by the government and the RBI failed to check volatility in the rupee.

Weak domestic fundamentals such as record current account deficit concern too put pressure on the rupee, they said.

In order to arrest the rupee slide, RBI had announced measures such as restriction on Indian firms investing abroad and on outward remittances by resident Indians, triggering talks of return of capital control regime.


Meanwhile, global ratings agency Fitch on Monday said India's fiscal numbers "look weak" and warned of a downgrade if the country is unable to meet the fiscal deficit target.

The rupee is down over17 percent so far this year despite efforts by policymakers to prop it up.

Source : zeenews.india.com