Tag: Rupee

  • Opposition slams Sitharaman’s remark that rupee has not weakened 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Opposition parties on Sunday slammed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remark that the rupee has not weakened but it is the dollar that has strengthened, saying she cannot hide the ‘failure’ of her government in handling the economy.

    The ruling BJP defended the finance minister’s statement, noting that the dollar has appreciated against most currencies.

    It also said that if rupee depreciates against all currencies “like it happened during UPA in 2013”, it is called “rupee getting weaker”, which is not the case now.

    Congress alleged that the people were paying the price for the government’s “incompetence and wrong policies”.

    “For how long will RSS-BJP work to weaken India by misleading the public from reality?” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said.

    Referring to India being ranked 107 out of 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2022, Gandhi tweeted: “Now the Prime Minister and his ministers will say, ‘Hunger is not increasing in India, but people are not feeling hungry in other countries’.”

    Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said only the finance minister can explain the meaning of this ‘new theory’ and alleged that the government’s efforts to strengthen the rupee in the last 11 months have not succeeded as foreign investors do not have faith in its policies.

    The rupee is now at the cusp of crossing 83 against 1 USD and it seems Prime Minister Narendra Modi “will only stop after it crosses 100”, she said.

    Shrinate pointed out that 86 per cent of India’s trade is in American dollars so when the rupee weakens it affects the India’s economy, trade and import.

    “But the finance minister is not bothered, she has come up with a new theory…Weakening rupee increases prices. Rupee is not weakening and unemployment is not there, there is no price rise, all this is being said while the people grapple with these issues,” Shrinate said.

    Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh also hit out at the finance minister and asserted that the weakening of the rupee will further push up prices.

    “Till when we will have to pay the price for your (the government’s) wrong policies and incompetence,” he said.

    In a statement, NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto said the ‘absurd’ statement by Sitharaman “will not hide the failure of her government in taking care of our country’s economy”.

    “She must concentrate more on looking after her ministry and focus less on trying to win Lok Sabha constituencies for the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2024. She must not forget that she is the finance minister and her duty is to safeguard the economy of India first,” he said.

    Sitharaman had recently spent three days in Baramati as part of the BJP plan to expand base in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

    Baramati is the home turf of NCP chief Sharad Pawar and the Lok Sabha seat is currently represented by his daughter Supriya Sule.

    Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha also took a swipe at the finance minister.

    “My economics isn’t weak, yours is stronger,” he tweeted while sharing a video of Sitharaman.

    BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra defended the minister’s remarks. When rupee gets weaker against all currencies like it happened during UPA in 2013, it is called ‘Rupee getting weaker’, he tweeted.

    “When most of the currencies are depreciating against dollar due to fed rate hikes is called dollar getting stronger that’s what happening right now, it should also be noted that rupee has appreciated against most of the currencies therefore it shouldn’t be called as rupee getting weaker,” he said in another tweet.

    Speaking with reporters after attending the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in the US, Sitharaman said that the rupee has not weakened but it is the dollar that has strengthened, as she defended the 8 per cent slide in the value of Indian currency against the greenback this year.

    She asserted that the fundamentals of the Indian economy were strong and that inflation was low compared to other parts of the world.

    NEW DELHI: Opposition parties on Sunday slammed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remark that the rupee has not weakened but it is the dollar that has strengthened, saying she cannot hide the ‘failure’ of her government in handling the economy.

    The ruling BJP defended the finance minister’s statement, noting that the dollar has appreciated against most currencies.

    It also said that if rupee depreciates against all currencies “like it happened during UPA in 2013”, it is called “rupee getting weaker”, which is not the case now.

    Congress alleged that the people were paying the price for the government’s “incompetence and wrong policies”.

    “For how long will RSS-BJP work to weaken India by misleading the public from reality?” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said.

    Referring to India being ranked 107 out of 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2022, Gandhi tweeted: “Now the Prime Minister and his ministers will say, ‘Hunger is not increasing in India, but people are not feeling hungry in other countries’.”

    Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said only the finance minister can explain the meaning of this ‘new theory’ and alleged that the government’s efforts to strengthen the rupee in the last 11 months have not succeeded as foreign investors do not have faith in its policies.

    The rupee is now at the cusp of crossing 83 against 1 USD and it seems Prime Minister Narendra Modi “will only stop after it crosses 100”, she said.

    Shrinate pointed out that 86 per cent of India’s trade is in American dollars so when the rupee weakens it affects the India’s economy, trade and import.

    “But the finance minister is not bothered, she has come up with a new theory…Weakening rupee increases prices. Rupee is not weakening and unemployment is not there, there is no price rise, all this is being said while the people grapple with these issues,” Shrinate said.

    Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh also hit out at the finance minister and asserted that the weakening of the rupee will further push up prices.

    “Till when we will have to pay the price for your (the government’s) wrong policies and incompetence,” he said.

    In a statement, NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto said the ‘absurd’ statement by Sitharaman “will not hide the failure of her government in taking care of our country’s economy”.

    “She must concentrate more on looking after her ministry and focus less on trying to win Lok Sabha constituencies for the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2024. She must not forget that she is the finance minister and her duty is to safeguard the economy of India first,” he said.

    Sitharaman had recently spent three days in Baramati as part of the BJP plan to expand base in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

    Baramati is the home turf of NCP chief Sharad Pawar and the Lok Sabha seat is currently represented by his daughter Supriya Sule.

    Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha also took a swipe at the finance minister.

    “My economics isn’t weak, yours is stronger,” he tweeted while sharing a video of Sitharaman.

    BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra defended the minister’s remarks. When rupee gets weaker against all currencies like it happened during UPA in 2013, it is called ‘Rupee getting weaker’, he tweeted.

    “When most of the currencies are depreciating against dollar due to fed rate hikes is called dollar getting stronger that’s what happening right now, it should also be noted that rupee has appreciated against most of the currencies therefore it shouldn’t be called as rupee getting weaker,” he said in another tweet.

    Speaking with reporters after attending the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in the US, Sitharaman said that the rupee has not weakened but it is the dollar that has strengthened, as she defended the 8 per cent slide in the value of Indian currency against the greenback this year.

    She asserted that the fundamentals of the Indian economy were strong and that inflation was low compared to other parts of the world.

  • ‘Don’t see Sri Lanka happening in India’: Yashwant Sinha

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: Ruling out an economic crisis similar to Sri Lanka happening in India, former union finance minister and opposition parties’ presidential election candidate Yashwant Sinha said on Thursday that the galloping depreciation of the Indian Rupee to the US Dollar is highly alarming and concerning.

    “I don’t see a situation similar to Sri Lanka happening in India, as our economy isn’t dependent on just a few industries like Sri Lanka. The tourism industry on which the Sri Lankan economy was largely dependent, suffered a huge jolt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the Sri Lankan tea market too was adversely hit. I don’t see similar things happening in India, as our economy isn’t just based on a few industries,” Sinha told journalists in Bhopal on Thursday.

    He, however, added that what is concerning is the continuous decline in the Indian Rupee to the US Dollar.

    “Never have I seen such steady depreciation in the value of the rupee as it’s happening presently. During the tenure of the present Prime Minister, the Indian Rupee has suffered the steepest fall against the US Dollar, from 58.44 in 2014 to 79.86 as I speak. This has badly hit the common people reflected through an unprecedented increase in prices of essentials, like the LPG gas cylinder, which was priced at Rs 410 in 2014, but has risen by around 300 per cent to Rs 1129 presently.”

    “What is even more worrying is the fact that our robust foreign exchange reserves are fast depleting. “Till a few days ago, our country’s huge foreign exchange reserve was pegged at 641 Billion Dollars, but the RBI has had to spend 45 Billion Dollars out of that to save the sliding rupee. I’m only hoping that the global conditions don’t become such that there is a run on the rupee. As far as I know, you can never fight the market, if the market is determined to take Rupee’s value to 85 to one US Dollar, then you can’t fight it. We’re faced with a crisis situation, where our huge foreign exchange reserves are depleting very fast,” Sinha maintained.

    While speaking about his opponent in the presidential election, the NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu, the former union minister said, “There is nothing in the President’s post, why doesn’t PM Modi appoint her the country’s Prime Minister.”

    He further said, “If the BJP leadership was so committed to tribal empowerment, why didn’t they choose a tribal leader for the presidential election from Madhya Pradesh, which has the largest tribal population in the country.”

    BHOPAL: Ruling out an economic crisis similar to Sri Lanka happening in India, former union finance minister and opposition parties’ presidential election candidate Yashwant Sinha said on Thursday that the galloping depreciation of the Indian Rupee to the US Dollar is highly alarming and concerning.

    “I don’t see a situation similar to Sri Lanka happening in India, as our economy isn’t dependent on just a few industries like Sri Lanka. The tourism industry on which the Sri Lankan economy was largely dependent, suffered a huge jolt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the Sri Lankan tea market too was adversely hit. I don’t see similar things happening in India, as our economy isn’t just based on a few industries,” Sinha told journalists in Bhopal on Thursday.

    He, however, added that what is concerning is the continuous decline in the Indian Rupee to the US Dollar.

    “Never have I seen such steady depreciation in the value of the rupee as it’s happening presently. During the tenure of the present Prime Minister, the Indian Rupee has suffered the steepest fall against the US Dollar, from 58.44 in 2014 to 79.86 as I speak. This has badly hit the common people reflected through an unprecedented increase in prices of essentials, like the LPG gas cylinder, which was priced at Rs 410 in 2014, but has risen by around 300 per cent to Rs 1129 presently.”

    “What is even more worrying is the fact that our robust foreign exchange reserves are fast depleting. “Till a few days ago, our country’s huge foreign exchange reserve was pegged at 641 Billion Dollars, but the RBI has had to spend 45 Billion Dollars out of that to save the sliding rupee. I’m only hoping that the global conditions don’t become such that there is a run on the rupee. As far as I know, you can never fight the market, if the market is determined to take Rupee’s value to 85 to one US Dollar, then you can’t fight it. We’re faced with a crisis situation, where our huge foreign exchange reserves are depleting very fast,” Sinha maintained.

    While speaking about his opponent in the presidential election, the NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu, the former union minister said, “There is nothing in the President’s post, why doesn’t PM Modi appoint her the country’s Prime Minister.”

    He further said, “If the BJP leadership was so committed to tribal empowerment, why didn’t they choose a tribal leader for the presidential election from Madhya Pradesh, which has the largest tribal population in the country.”