Reserve Bank may have bought breathing space for rupee as crude cools

The country's foreign-exchange reserves plunged $5.14 bn in the week ended October 12, the biggest drop in seven years

The Reserve Bank of India appears to have moved away from its hands-off exchange rate strategy as the rupee plumbed fresh lows earlier this month.

The country’s foreign-exchange reserves plunged $5.14 billion in the week ended October 12, the biggest drop in seven years, hinting the central bank intervened to stem the rupee’s losses from getting out of hand after it held interest rates at an October 5 meeting.

While it may be too early to conclude that the RBI will step in frequently to defend the rupee on such a magnitude regularly, the intervention along with a fall in