India’s rupee fell on speculation importers stepped up dollar purchases to meet payments ahead of the March 31 financial year-end. The currency reversed an earlier gain on concern higher oil prices will boost India’s import costs, according to Corporation Bank. Brent oil has risen 11.7 percent this year to $125.31 a barrel. The rupee rose earlier on speculation gold imports will slow after the government increased tariffs on the metal, helping rein in the nation’s current-account deficit. “We saw sustained demand for dollars from importers,� said Sudarshan Bhatt, chief currency trader at state-run Corporation Bank in Mumbai. “Oil prices are also a concern.� The rupee declined 0.1 percent to 50.2344 per dollar in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, after rising as much as 0.2 percent. The currency dropped 0.7 percent last week. One-month implied volatility, a measure of exchange-rate swings used to price options, fell 25 basis points, or 0.25 percentage point, to 9.50 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, presenting the annual budget in parliament on March 16, doubled the customs duty on gold bars and coins to 4 percent and the excise duty on refined gold to 3 percent. India, the world’s biggest bullion buyer, aims to narrow the shortfall in its current account from an estimated 3.6 percent of gross domestic product in the year through March 31, according to Mukherjee. Three-month onshore forward contracts traded at 51.32 a dollar, compared with 51.33 on March 16, and offshore non- deliverable contracts were at 51.34 from 51.36. Forwards are agreements to buy or sell assets at a set price and date. Non- deliverable contracts are settled in dollars. To contact the reporter on this story: Jeanette Rodrigues in Mumbai at jrodrigues26@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net

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