Indian rupee ended two-week high against dollar on Thursday, due to selling of greenback by banks and importers. Domestic currency got some support with International Monetary Fund (IMF) assessment report that the adoption of the GST could help raise India’s medium-term GDP growth to over 8% and create a single national market for enhancing the efficiency of the movement of goods and services. Some support also came with RBI Governor Urjit Patel’s statement that faster remonetisation and return of discretionary consumer demand will push economic activity in the latter part the fiscal. Besides, the dollar’s weakness against some currencies overseas and a firm domestic equity market too contributed to the rupee gains. On the global front, dollar slipped against yen on Thursday, as the lack of a clearer signal from the U.S. Federal Reserve that it might raise interest rates next month countered surprise praise from the new Treasury Secretary for a strong currency.
Finally, the rupee ended at 66.82, 14 paise stronger from its previous close of 66.96 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 66.94 and 66.78 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 66.83 and for Euro stood at 70.54 on February 23, 2017. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 59.01, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 83.12.The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
