Dark days ahead for rupee over trade, Lok Sabha election jitters: poll

the Indian currency, which is down about 1 percent this year, is forecast to weaken nearly 2 percent by end-May, suggesting upcoming elections are a clear risk.

The Indian rupee’s weak start to 2019 is an indication of how it will perform over the coming year, strategists in a Reuters poll said, citing uncertainty ahead of a general election in May and a potential trade conflict with the United States.

Last year, the currency tumbled about 10 percent and hit a record low of 74.485 to the dollar in October, marking its worse performance since 2013, driven by a sell-off in emerging markets and a widening fiscal deficit as oil prices rose.

While the consensus showed the rupee would not breach that record over the next 12 months, the