Reversing previous session’s strong gains, Indian rupee ended weaker against the US dollar on Wednesday, on the back of consistent demand for the greenback from state-run banks and importers. Sentiments remained down-beat with India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) revising India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in current financial year downwards to 6.7 per cent -- marking a six-year low -- from its earlier forecast of 7.3 per cent. The agency expects FY20 to be the third consecutive year of subdued growth pushed by a slowdown in consumption demand, delayed and uneven progress of monsoon so far, decline in manufacturing growth, inability of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to resolve cases in a time-bound manner and rising global trade tension adversely impacting exports. Besides, a weak trend at Dalal Street coupled with US dollar’s gain against other currencies overseas weighed on the local unit. On the global front, pound slumped against dollar on Wednesday as Britain's government moved to extend the suspension of parliament, increasing the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit.
Finally, the rupee ended at 71.77, 29 paise weaker from its previous close of 72.48 on Tuesday. The currency touched a high and low of 71.87 and 71.46 respectively. The reference rate for the dollar stood at 71.82 and for Euro stood at 79.73 on August 27, 2019. While the reference rate for the Yen stood at 67.97, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 87.74.
