Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

23-November-2011 17:26 IST

The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that RBI is closely monitoring the current rupee situation and he is sure that RBI will do the needful, as required. The Finance Minister further said that he would like to add that despite global uncertainty, FII Investments have been in the positive territory in October (USD 634 million) and November as of yesterday (USD 213 million). The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee said that India’s growth and fundamentals are strong and they look more attractive in a world confronting problems.

The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee was referring to the benchmark indices which lost 2.5 per cent as of 2 PM today as overseas markets declined on concerns over US' third quarter growth and high yields on Spanish bonds. He said that in India, a day ahead of the expiry of the November futures contract, trading remains choppy. Regarding the rupee, the Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee said that the volatility in the Rupee is also keeping investors nervous, though today the rupee recovered from a low of 52.73 to trade at 52.12 per dollar.

The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee said that against an expectation of a more modest revision, the third quarter US GDP growth was revised downward to 2.0 per cent from the advance estimate of 2.5 per cent. As a result, the US markets closed lower by around 0.5 per cent yesterday. Asian stocks also fell in the range of 2 - 2.5 per cent, after a mining tax was approved in Australia’s lower house of Parliament, along with lingering concerns on Europe.

DSM/SS/GN

Rupee volatility monitored; central bank expected to intervene to stabilise currency amid investor nervousness and support markets. Rupee volatility is under close central-bank monitoring, with expectation of intervention to stabilise the currency; this volatility and global shocks are contributing to investor nervousness and choppy equity trading, even as foreign portfolio inflows remain positive.