Indian rupee weakened against US dollar on Friday on account of selling of American currency by banks and exporters. Rupee fell further after trade deficit for May widened to a 30-month high. Trade deficit for May widened to $13.84 billion from $6.27 billion a year ago and $13.25 billion a month ago mainly due to increase in gold import. Exports rose 8.3% to $24 billion, while imports jumped 33% to $37.85 billion. Gold, silver and precious and semi-precious stones recorded a growth of 128% in May. On the global front, the dollar stood tall in Asia on Friday, on track for weekly gains against a currency basket, after upbeat US economic data gave investors reason to hope the US central bank will stick with its plan to hike rates.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 64.68, weaker by 14 paise from its previous close of 64.54 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 64.32 and 64.25 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 64.28 and for Euro stood at 72.10 on June 15, 2017. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 58.62, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 81.91. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
| Date | 1US$ | 1GBP |
| June 15, 2017 | 64.2801 | 81.9121 |
| June 14, 2017 | 64.3141 | 82.1098 |
(RBI-Reference Rate)
