Rupee rise not a concern yet: FinMin

The strengthening rupee is not a matter of concern at this stage, as the capital flows into the country are within safe limits, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla said here today.

"The (rupee) appreciation has not been of any great magnitude to cause stress," Chawla told reporters on the sidelines of a Planning Commission conference on infrastructure.

"... The (capital) inflow is also not to the extent and of the variety which are causing any stress or going beyond the realistic limits, which the current account deficit permits. Therefore, at this stage it is not a matter of great policy concern," Chawla said.

The rupee has been appreciating against the US dollar in the current fiscal, largely due to signs of economic recovery and revival in FII inflows after March 2009.

So far this year, the rupee has appreciated 2.3 per cent against the greenback.  The local currency, however, hit a fresh one-week low against the dollar at 45.60/61 today, after rising in early trade following the rise of the American currency against some major global currencies.

With renewed interest in the domestic market, total net inflows by foreign institutional investors have crossed the Rs 15,000-crore ($3.4 billion) mark so far this year.

Besides, the country's foreign exchange reserves grew by $31.5 billion in the first nine months of this fiscal and the credit for two out of every three of these dollars go to the rupee appreciation.