Indian rupee crashed to a four-week low and weakened against US dollar on Tuesday following the shock exit of former RBI Governor Urjit Patel and amid uncertainty ahead of the Assembly election results of five states -- Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Rajasthan. Meanwhile, a day after RBI governor Patel’s resignation, eminent economist and columnist Surjit Bhalla resigned as part-time member of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). Further, massive sell-offs in domestic equities as investors panicked over exit polls suggesting the Congress giving a tough fight to the ruling BJP in state elections, too added pressure on domestic unit. On the global front, the pound struggled near a 20-month low against the dollar on Tuesday after British Prime Minister Theresa May postponed a crucial vote on her Brexit deal. The pound’s slide was a boon for the dollar, which rallied back from a 2-1/2-week low against a basket of currencies initially driven by a growing view the Federal Reserve could pause its rate hike cycle sooner than previously thought.
The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 72.02, weaker by 70 paise from its previous close of 71.32 on Monday. The currency touched a high and low of 72.4200 and 72.0025 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 71.32 and for Euro stood at 81.57 on December 10, 2018. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 63.43, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 90.91.
| Date | 1US$ | 1GBP |
| December 10, 2018 | 71.3257 | 90.9108 |
| December 07, 2018 | 70.5663 | 90.1212 |
(Reference Rate)
