By IANS,
New Delhi: The Indian rupee sank to a record low for the fourth straight day Thursday hitting 54.30 against a dollar in early trade, as importers and investors continued to buy the US currency on speculation of further capital outflows amid gloomy economic outlook.
The rupee breached the psychologically important 54 level for the first time and slumped to a new low of 54.30 to a dollar in early trade.
This is the fourth day in a row which has seen the rupee sliding to new lows. The Indian currency has weakened almost 20 percent against the dollar since July this year.
The rupee closed at 53.88 to a dollar Wednesday.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday blamed the huge capital outflow for the recent slide in rupee.
“While the Indian economy faced excessive capital inflows in the aftermath of the global crisis leading to appreciation of the domestic currency, with the unfolding of the eurozone crisis, the matter of concern at present is reversal in such flows leading to increased currency volatility,” Mukherjee said.
So far, the Reserve Bank of India has not made any significant intervention in the currency market to control the slide of rupee.
C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and a former RBI governor, said the central bank could intervene to combat fluctuations in the currency if the factors affecting it were from within the country.