Indian rupee depreciated to near seventeen-month low against dollar on Wednesday, following continued outflows by foreign investors from the local equity and bond markets amid surging crude oil prices. Traders failed to get relief with the private report that an open data ecosystem will impact India’s GDP by $22 billion, or the equivalent of two times the amount raised through the sale of 4G spectrum in 2017. The report claims that an open data ecosystem has the power to double farmers’ income by 2022, provide Universal Health coverage and provide microloans to three million plus micro, small and medium enterprises among other benefits. On the global front, dollar climbed against most of its rivals on Wednesday, but lost ground against the yen as geopolitical worries spurred buying in Japan’s haven currency.
Finally, the rupee ended at 68.41, 37 paise weaker from its previous close of 68.04 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 68.45 and 68.15 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 68.21 and for Euro stood at 80.24 on May 23, 2018. While the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 61.74, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 91.42. The reference rates are based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai.
