The Indian rupee has started sliding again, going up to nearly Rs. 53 a dollar (RBI Reference rate).
This is the highest the dollar has been since 4 Jan, and it looks like we’ll go break the 2012 high (of Rs. 53.30) very soon.
Longer term, we are close to 11 year highs.
This is bad for:
- Importers. We import Gold, Palm oil, etc.
- Oil, obviously. The oil pool deficit gets bigger and bigger. I’d expect some retail fuel price increase soon.
- Borrowers of external loans. This is not going to be fun for those who borrowed in dollars, converted to rupees, and now have to return dollars.
Good for exporters, but you can bet that their customers will tell them to cut prices because of the rupee depreciation. Not fun either.