Dollar seen at Rs 36-39.5 by year-end

Dollar seen at Rs 36-39.5 by year-end

BS Reporter / Mumbai July 12, 2007

The sops announced for exporters today have strengthened expectations that the rupee will appreciate further from the current 9-year high level, with some forecasts estimating that the Indian currency will rise to Rs 36-Rs 39.50 by the end of 2007.

The rupee closed 0.2% down at Rs 40.49 per dollar today, after touching a low of Rs 40.70 in intra-day trade.

The rupee has appreciated by over 8% since January on robust capital inflows and the dollar weakening globally. RBI bought $24.7 billion of foreign currency between November 2006 and April 2007 to prevent a sharp appreciation of the rupee, and raised its overnight lending rate and the portion of cash banks need to deposit with it, to fight inflation.