The rupee ended at 66.02 per dollar due to dollar demand from importers and lower GDP growth data announced last week.
India's GDP (gross domestic product) growth decelerated to 4.4 per cent — the slowest pace of expansion since the 2008 meltdown — in the first quarter (April-June) quarter of the current fiscal.
The rupee shed 39 paise in the opening trade at 66.10 against the previous close of 65.71 per dollar. The domestic unit had ended higher on Friday after RBI intervention by asking banks to sell dollars.
The rupee weakened to 66.30 in the first half of the trading session and appreciated to 65.70 on mild dollar selling. However, it declined thereafter.
The rupee saw sharp movements last week. It had hit a historic low of 68.80 against the US dollar on August 28. It had dropped 3.7 per cent during last week alone.
The Ministry of Finance had said that the rupee depreciation is not reflective of any weakness in the economy. Also the rupee is heavily under-valued at the moment and it is being addressed.
