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The Indian rupee fell to a
record low on Friday and posted its steepest weekly decline in
six months, weighed by sustained foreign outflows and hedging by
importers.
The rupee came within a hair’s breadth of the 92.00
level on Friday, slipping to an all-time low of 91.9650.
The currency then settled at 91.94, down 0.34% on the day,
taking its losses to 1.18% for the week and 2.3% for the month.
Its underperformance this week was all the more telling
considering that most Asian peers managed to post a modest
advance against a weakening dollar index amid U.S. President
Donald Trump issuing threats over Greenland and later walking
them back.
“This is largely a repeat of what we saw through most of
2025. The rupee stays under pressure regardless of broader
cues,” said Kunal Kurani, vice president at Mecklai Financial
Services.
Pressure on the rupee built steadily through the week and
the month, with foreign investors continuing to pare equity
exposure while importers and corporate firms stepping up hedging
in anticipation of further depreciation.
Exporters, meanwhile, slowed dollar sales in the forward
market, reducing supply and exacerbating pressure on the
currency.
Regular intervention by the Reserve Bank of India has helped
slow losses, though it has failed to reverse the underlying
trend.
The central bank stepped in significantly on at least two
occasions this week, bankers said, selling dollars in the spot
market and conducting buy/sell swaps to manage liquidity.
Indian equities have been under pressure amid sustained
foreign selling, making it difficult for the RBI to rein in the
rupee’s decline. The Nifty 50 index slumped 2.5% this week,
while foreign outflows from Indian equities in January hit about
$3.5 billion.
(Reporting by Nimesh Vora, Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Sonia
Cheema and Janane Venkatraman)
Published on January 23, 2026
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