Strong rupee, weak exporters

Effects on job-generating sectors should worry govt

After several consecutive years of depreciation against the US dollar, the rupee has strengthened solidly over the course of this calendar year. It has gained about 6 per cent against the dollar in just six months. One major contributor to this trend is a surge in foreign capital inflows, particularly into the domestic debt market. Foreign holdings of rupee-denominated debt have increased by about $22 billion this year. But Indian exports have been hit hard by the appreciation of the rupee. As a four-part series of reports in this paper has shown, major export-oriented sectors are struggling to deal with