More Stories

Informist, Thursday, May 21, 2026

 

--Trade minister on rupee fall: Monitoring it, several steps being considered 
--Trade minister: No plan on cutting down non-essential imports as of now 

 

NEW DELHI – India is considering several steps to control the fall in the rupee, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said Thursday. The government is keeping a close watch on the currency, the minister said. 

 

His comments come amid a weakening rupee, which has depreciated 6% against the dollar since the war in West Asia broke out on Feb. 28. The rupee depreciated to a record low of 96.96 against the dollar on Wednesday, marking a fall of about 12% on-year, driven by concerns about widening current account deficit and persistently high energy import costs due to the war. 

 

While more measures may be in the offing to curb the rupee's fall, Goyal said there is no plan to cut non-essential imports as of now.

 

Reports earlier in the day said that the Reserve Bank of India is considering options to limit the rupee's fall, including hiking interest rates, raising dollars overseas through deposit schemes for non-resident Indians and selling sovereign dollar bonds. Goyal, however, did not spell out what steps the government is considering to limit the fall in Indian currency. 

 

The government has already taken a few measures to ease pressures on the rupee and on India's depleting foreign exchange reserves, which are being used both to control currency volatility and to import key commodities like oil and gas at much higher prices. The government has also more than doubled the import duty on gold and silver to 15%, but the market does not see that as enough to end the rupee's perils.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged people to conserve foreign exchange by reducing the use of transportation fuels and the purchase of gold. The government has already increased the retail prices of petrol and diesel by about INR 3.90 per litre in two tranches to reduce losses for state-owned oil marketing companies.  End

 

US$1 = INR 96.44

 

Reported by Shubham Rana

Written by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.