By Anil Varma Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- India’s rupee advanced for a second day on speculation measures taken by the government and the central bank to bolster the economy will encourage overseas investors to shift more money to the country. The currency climbed to the highest in more than a month after India’s Economic Affairs Secretary Ashok Chawla said yesterday the government will take additional steps to support Asia’s third-largest economy as it faces a deeper-than-expected slump. The Reserve Bank of India has slashed interest rates three times this quarter to boost growth. “The currency market is expecting some dollar inflows today and traders seem to be positioning themselves for that,” said Agam Gupta, head of trading at Standard Chartered Plc’s Indian unit in Mumbai. “The rupee may gain further from here.” The rupee rose 0.4 percent to 47.855 per dollar at 9:44 a.m. in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Eight of the 10 most-traded Asian currencies outside Japan gained. The Indian currency may rise to 47.70 today, Gupta said. The rupee has rebounded 5.8 percent from a record low of 50.615 touched on Dec. 2. The currency’s 18 percent loss this year is still the biggest since 1991, when a balance of payments crisis forced the South Asian nation to pawn its gold with the International Monetary Fund to pay for imports. To contact the reporters on this story: Anil Varma in Mumbai at avarma3@bloomberg.net.

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