MUMBAI: The rupee hit a record low against the dollar on Wednesday, succumbing to the steep risk aversion hitting global markets and highlighting the vulnerabilities of a country facing challenging fiscal and economic outlook.
The rupee fell to as low as 54.36 to the dollar, breaching its previous record low of 54.30 set in December. It was last trading at 54.335/35 compared to its 53.79 close on Tuesday.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will address Parliament at 0830 GMT on Wednesday, and is likely to make a statement on the rupee, sources told reporters. Earlier, RBI Deputy Governor H.R. Khan said the sharp fall in the rupee to a record low on Wednesday is partly because of global factors.
"The RBI is aware of the situation. We have taken steps and will take further steps if necessary," Khan added.
The partially covertible rupee hit a life time low of 54.46 to dollar earlier in the day, at which point it was down 1.2 percent from Tuesday's close of 53.79. In recent deals, it was trading at 54.41.
Despite repeated interventions over the past sessions and a rash of other measures targeting deposits and exporters, the Reserve Bank of India has so far been unable to prevent the falls in the domestic currency.
The central bank will continue to face a losing battle, analysts say, unless global risk aversion eases or India resolves long-standing problems such as a widening current account deficit, both of which are seen as unlikely.
Frequent interventions would also further sap rupee liquidity at a time when the country is facing a severe cash crunch in its banking system, analysts added.
"Unfortunately for the rupee, this is not a great environment to run a current account deficit and thus be reliant on capital inflows from foreign lenders," said Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp in Sydney.
"Suspect only radical steps by RBI - or sudden action by foreign central banks and/or G20 - will stop a push through 55 and quite possible higher," he added, referring to the USD/INR cross.
