Rupee Likely to Stabilise at 88-88.50

The rupee's southward journey towards 89-90 is unlikely to continue in the near term as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is not in favour of excess depreciation, economists and currency analysts said in an FE poll.

- Christina Titus

On Friday, the rupee breached the 88-mark for the first time and closed at an all-time low of 88.20, days after the US' 50% tariffs on Indian exports came into effect. On Monday too, the local currency plunged to a new intra-day low of 88.33 before recovering to close flat.

While some of them believe that the rupee depreciation will make exports cheaper, thereby cushioning some impact of tariffs, the overwhelming consensus of the 10 experts is that RBI is unlikely to let it happen anytime soon.

"The rupee crossing 88 was more sentiment-driven than fundamentals. Dollar has been weakening in the international markets and the dollar index is below 100. The importers' rush for the negative sentiment after imposition of the tariffs is a short-term phenomenon," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Bank of Baroda.

He said the rupee will not breach the 89-mark.