Wed Apr 09 11:30:49 UTC 2025: ## Rupee Plunges Amidst Global Tariff Turmoil

**Mumbai, April 9, 2025** – The Indian rupee continued its downward spiral for a fourth consecutive day, closing at 86.71 against the US dollar on Wednesday, a 45-paise drop. This follows a 50-paise plunge on Tuesday, marking the steepest single-day decline since January 13th. Over the past four trading sessions, the rupee has lost a total of 104 paise.

The decline comes despite a record low in crude oil prices and a weakening US dollar. Analysts attribute the rupee’s weakness to significant foreign fund outflows and subdued domestic equity markets. Escalating global tariff tensions, particularly new US tariffs on Chinese imports, further dampened investor sentiment. The new tariffs include a substantial 104% levy on certain Chinese goods.

Despite the weakening rupee, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 6%, aiming to stimulate economic growth. However, citing global uncertainties, the RBI also lowered India’s FY26 growth projection to 6.5% from the earlier estimate of 6.7%.

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra clarified that the central bank does not target specific rupee levels, intervening only to curb excessive volatility. He stated that the RBI’s currency management strategy does not involve managing or targeting any specific range or level for the Indian rupee.

The benchmark stock indices also experienced significant losses, with the BSE Sensex falling 0.51% and the Nifty declining 0.61%. Foreign institutional investors offloaded ₹4,994.24 crore worth of equities on Tuesday. Analysts predict the USD-INR exchange rate to fluctuate between 86.30 and 86.90 in the coming days. Concerns remain over upcoming US inflation data.

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