<p>The Indian rupee slipped below the psychologically critical 90-per-US dollar level for the first time on Wednesday, upsetting the financial markets and amplifying concerns about the larger macroeconomic landscape. </p><p>According to forex traders, uncertainty over the India-US trade deal, along with the lack of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) effort to stop the slide in the local unit, put further pressure on the rupee. </p><p>With the rupee losing over 5 per cent this calendar year, <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/markets/rupee-slips-below-90-mark-against-dollar-for-the-first-time-3818987">the breach of the 90-threshold sparked unease not because of one single shock, but on account of convergence of pressures</a> that have steadily eroded sentiment.</p>.<p>An analysis shows the rupee has seen a consistent depreciation against the US dollar for the last several years. The depreciation trend stretches back to the relative stability rupee enjoyed in the early 2000s. The rupee, which hovered around Rs 48 a dollar in 2002, has weakened significantly over the last two decades.</p><p>The global financial crisis of 2008 triggered the sharp decline in the rupee value. This was followed by period of volatility and the which saw the rupee value improving slightly from around Rs 67 a dollar in 2016 to around Rs 65 in 2017. The phase since then, however, has the rupee value slide against the US dollar, mostly influenced by geopolitical and trade impacts. </p><p>Last week, a Bloomberg report termed the Indian rupee "Asia’s worst-performing currency of 2025".</p><p>The Indian rupee is currently Asia’s worst-performing currency of 2025. It is also on track for its largest annual decline since 2022 — the year Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent oil prices soaring past USD 100 per barrel, dealing a major blow to India, which imports about 90 per cent of its crude.</p><p>This year’s weakness, however, has been driven by higher US tariffs on Indian exports and an exodus of foreign investors from the local stock market. In a bid to stabilise the rupee, the Reserve Bank of India has sold more than USD 30 billion of foreign-currency assets since the end of July, according to Bloomberg Economics estimates.</p><p><strong>'Not losing sleep over it'</strong></p><p>Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran on Wednesday said the government was not losing sleep over the declining rupee.</p><p>The falling rupee is not affecting inflation or exports, he said, and expressed hope that it should improve next year.</p><p>Foreign exchange analysts have attributed the fall in Indian currency to the intense selling of Indian stocks by foreign investors.</p>
<p>The Indian rupee slipped below the psychologically critical 90-per-US dollar level for the first time on Wednesday, upsetting the financial markets and amplifying concerns about the larger macroeconomic landscape. </p><p>According to forex traders, uncertainty over the India-US trade deal, along with the lack of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) effort to stop the slide in the local unit, put further pressure on the rupee. </p><p>With the rupee losing over 5 per cent this calendar year, <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/markets/rupee-slips-below-90-mark-against-dollar-for-the-first-time-3818987">the breach of the 90-threshold sparked unease not because of one single shock, but on account of convergence of pressures</a> that have steadily eroded sentiment.</p>.<p>An analysis shows the rupee has seen a consistent depreciation against the US dollar for the last several years. The depreciation trend stretches back to the relative stability rupee enjoyed in the early 2000s. The rupee, which hovered around Rs 48 a dollar in 2002, has weakened significantly over the last two decades.</p><p>The global financial crisis of 2008 triggered the sharp decline in the rupee value. This was followed by period of volatility and the which saw the rupee value improving slightly from around Rs 67 a dollar in 2016 to around Rs 65 in 2017. The phase since then, however, has the rupee value slide against the US dollar, mostly influenced by geopolitical and trade impacts. </p><p>Last week, a Bloomberg report termed the Indian rupee "Asia’s worst-performing currency of 2025".</p><p>The Indian rupee is currently Asia’s worst-performing currency of 2025. It is also on track for its largest annual decline since 2022 — the year Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent oil prices soaring past USD 100 per barrel, dealing a major blow to India, which imports about 90 per cent of its crude.</p><p>This year’s weakness, however, has been driven by higher US tariffs on Indian exports and an exodus of foreign investors from the local stock market. In a bid to stabilise the rupee, the Reserve Bank of India has sold more than USD 30 billion of foreign-currency assets since the end of July, according to Bloomberg Economics estimates.</p><p><strong>'Not losing sleep over it'</strong></p><p>Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran on Wednesday said the government was not losing sleep over the declining rupee.</p><p>The falling rupee is not affecting inflation or exports, he said, and expressed hope that it should improve next year.</p><p>Foreign exchange analysts have attributed the fall in Indian currency to the intense selling of Indian stocks by foreign investors.</p>
