The Indian rupee fell to a record low of nearly 92 against the United States dollar on Thursday, Reuters reported.
The Reserve Bank of India likely intervened to prevent the currency from falling further, with the rupee ending the trade session at 91.95 per dollar, down 0.2% from its previous close, the news agency reported.
It had reached 91.98 per US dollar earlier in the day.
Reuters quoted unidentified traders as saying that the central bank had likely sold US dollars before the Indian spot market opened on Thursday to support the rupee, after the non-deliverable forward markets signalled a potential breach of the 92-per-dollar level.
A spot market is where currencies are traded for immediate delivery at the current price. A forward market is where currencies are traded at a set price for delivery on a specific future date.
A widened balance of payments deficit, along with uncertainty about the trade deal with the US, has exerted pressure on the rupee, causing it to weaken, said the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Thursday.
The survey, which was released three days ahead of the Union Budget presentation for the financial year 2026-’27, details the state of the country’s economy and suggests measures to boost growth.
The document noted that between April 1 and January 22, the Indian currency had depreciated by about 6.5% against the US dollar. However, the movement of the rupee has been “orderly”, it said.
“Over the medium to long term, exchange rate dynamics are expected to be guided by structural fundamentals, such as productivity gains, export diversification towards higher-value goods and services, deeper integration into GVCs [global value chains] and a stable policy environment rather than short-term fluctuations,” the Department of Economic Affairs said in the document.
On January 23, the Indian rupee fell to 91.9 against the United States dollar, which was the record low at that time. This had come two days after the rupee breached the 91.5-mark against the dollar for the first time.
The Indian currency has plummeted more than 2% this month after falling about 5% in 2025.
