Congress takes swipe at PM Modi over rupee's 'free fall'

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the rupee's "free fall" in relation to the dollar and recalled his 2013 remarks as then Gujarat chief minister in which he had mocked the UPA dispensation.

The rupee opened at 89.46 against the US dollar before rising to 89.17, up 49 paise from its previous close.

The rupee had plunged 98 paise to close at its lifetime low of 89.66 against the US dollar on Friday, due to a huge demand for the greenback in the domestic forex market amid widespread selling pressure in local and global equities and trade-related uncertainties.

Taking a swipe at the government, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said on X, "The rupee continues its free fall in relation to the dollar. It is now about to breach the 90 rupees to the USD low." Does the PM recall what he himself had said in July 2013, the Congress leader asked and shared the video from the time.

“Look at how fast rupee is falling. Sometimes it seems there is a competition going on between the rupee and the government in Delhi, whose dignity goes down faster,” Modi, the then Gujarat CM, had said.

In the steepest fall in over three years, the domestic currency nosedived 98 paise to finally settle at 89.66 against the American currency on Friday.

The previous biggest one-day fall was recorded at 99 paise against the dollar on February 24, 2022.