Indian rupee strengthened against US dollar in early trade on Tuesday after the government stuck to its fiscal deficit target of 3.5 percent of GDP for the fiscal year 2017. Further, sustained selling of the US currency by banks and exporters, dollar’s weakness against some currencies overseas, and rebound in domestic stock markets also helped the domestic unit. Furthermore, fresh stimulus from China, with the People’s Bank of China cutting banks’ reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, in an attempt to pump liquidity into the market, also aided emerging market assets including the rupee. On the global front, the yen was broadly firmer on Tuesday after soft economic data weighed on the euro and dollar and as lingering nervousness over the health of the global economy favored the safe-haven Japanese currency.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 68.25, stronger by 16 paise from its previous close of 68.41 on Monday. The currency touched a high and low of 68.36 and 68.2350 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 68.61 and for Euro stood at 75.07 on February 29, 2016. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 60.78, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 95.1978. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
| Date | 1US$ | 1GBP |
| February 29, 2016 | 68.6160 | 95.1978 |
| February 26, 2016 | 68.7775 | 96.0890 |
(RBI-Reference Rate)
