<p>Bengaluru: India’s currency is one of the least volatile among the world’s major currencies, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday, at a time when the rupee has hit its historical lows repeatedly.</p>.<p>On Friday, the rupee weakened to another fresh low of 84.5075 per US dollar earlier in the day, pressured by portfolio outflows and a stronger American currency.</p>.<p>“The Indian rupee is one of the least volatile among major currencies, and India’s foreign exchange reserves, currently at $657 billion, are among the five biggest forex reserves among nations,” Goyal said, while virtually addressing an event in Bengaluru organized by the India Foundation.</p>.RBI asks lenders to cut speculative bets against rupee.<p>It should be noted that India’s forex has logged its sharpest weekly fall last week, dropping by more than $17 billion, indicating that the Reserve Bank of India has been selling dollars to prop up the local currency.</p>.<p>Additionally, news agency <em>Reuters</em> reported that the RBI, in a rare move, has instructed some banks to cut long positions on the dollar-rupee pair on Friday, seeking to reduce speculative positions with the currency at a record low. </p>.<p>While the RBI has previously stopped banks from adding long positions on the dollar-rupee, they have not asked them to cut positions in recent years. This move adds to the RBI’s arsenal of forex interventions, which includes regular dollar sales in the spot and non-deliverable forwards markets.</p>.<p>In addition to asking banks to reduce speculative bets, the RBI has also asked them to avoid buying spot dollars to execute arbitrage trades between the local over-the-counter spot market, futures and non-deliverable forwards (NDF) market.</p>.<p>Speaking at the same event, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that gig economy start-ups are one of India’s foremost innovations, as she called for ‘Brand India’ to have a model of ‘responsible capitalism’. The Finance Minister declined to answer any questions on the sidelines regarding the US Department of Justice’s indictment of Adani group, when asked by <em>DH</em>.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: India’s currency is one of the least volatile among the world’s major currencies, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday, at a time when the rupee has hit its historical lows repeatedly.</p>.<p>On Friday, the rupee weakened to another fresh low of 84.5075 per US dollar earlier in the day, pressured by portfolio outflows and a stronger American currency.</p>.<p>“The Indian rupee is one of the least volatile among major currencies, and India’s foreign exchange reserves, currently at $657 billion, are among the five biggest forex reserves among nations,” Goyal said, while virtually addressing an event in Bengaluru organized by the India Foundation.</p>.RBI asks lenders to cut speculative bets against rupee.<p>It should be noted that India’s forex has logged its sharpest weekly fall last week, dropping by more than $17 billion, indicating that the Reserve Bank of India has been selling dollars to prop up the local currency.</p>.<p>Additionally, news agency <em>Reuters</em> reported that the RBI, in a rare move, has instructed some banks to cut long positions on the dollar-rupee pair on Friday, seeking to reduce speculative positions with the currency at a record low. </p>.<p>While the RBI has previously stopped banks from adding long positions on the dollar-rupee, they have not asked them to cut positions in recent years. This move adds to the RBI’s arsenal of forex interventions, which includes regular dollar sales in the spot and non-deliverable forwards markets.</p>.<p>In addition to asking banks to reduce speculative bets, the RBI has also asked them to avoid buying spot dollars to execute arbitrage trades between the local over-the-counter spot market, futures and non-deliverable forwards (NDF) market.</p>.<p>Speaking at the same event, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that gig economy start-ups are one of India’s foremost innovations, as she called for ‘Brand India’ to have a model of ‘responsible capitalism’. The Finance Minister declined to answer any questions on the sidelines regarding the US Department of Justice’s indictment of Adani group, when asked by <em>DH</em>.</p>