India is not defending rupee, it can take care of itself: CEA Nageswaran

Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said India is not defending the rupee and the RBI is taking steps to ensure that the movement of the rupee is gradual and in line with market trends

Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Tuesday said India is not defending the rupee and the Reserve Bank of India is taking necessary steps to ensure that the movement of the rupee is gradual and in line with market trends.

Nageswaran further said that the rupee is being managed in a manner that reflects the fundamentals of the economy.

"India is not defending the rupee... I don't think Indian fundamentals are such that we need to defend the rupee. The rupee can take care of itself," he said at an event here.

The Indian rupee, in August, had touched an all-time low of 80.15 against the US dollar. It is currently hovering at 79.25 level against the American currency.

"The RBI is making sure that whatever direction the rupee is moving in line with the market trends is just gradual and doesn't impose burden either on the importers or the exporters," Nageswaran added.

On declining foreign exchange reserves, he said, "Global risk aversion prevents capital from coming in. Naturally that is what (foreign) reserves are meant for."

The country's foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 3.007 billion to USD 561.046 billion in the week ended August 26, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed.

In the previous week ended August 19, the reserves had dipped by USD 6.687 billion to USD 564.053 billion.

The fall in the reserves during the reporting week ended August 26 was on account of a dip in the foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves, and the gold reserves, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the RBI on September 2.