Zero depreciation in Indian rupee between 2013 and 2018: Official

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New Delhi : Repayment of funds, which was raised from overseas market in 2013, has been a main reason for rupee depreciation in the past few months, a senior Finance Ministry official said on Tuesday.

However, the official maintained that there has been a "zero depreciation" of the Indian currency in the last 5-years between 2013 and 2018.

"In 2013, about $32-34 billion were raised by the government that appreciated the Indian rupee," the senior official said here on Tuesday adding that "the currency exchange rate between the US dollar and the Indian rupee pair is the same in 2018 as it was in 2013."

"In the last 5-years, the Indian rupee has remained stable against all major currencies like Euro and Pound, though vis-a-vis the US dollar there has been some depreciation due to the strengthening of the USD."

"We are the only country among the emerging market economies, whose currency has maintained a stable value in the long term."

In recent days, factors such as geo-political developments, wider trade deficit, along with outflow of foreign funds have pulled the Indian rupee to fresh record intra-day and closing lows.

On August 16, the Indian rupee had plunged to an intra-day low level of 70.39-40 -- its lowest ever mark -- against the greenback prompting automobile manufacturers and other import dependent sectors to raise prices.

It settled at a record closing low of 70.16 against the US dollar on August 16.

However, easing of global trade tensions, the Indian rupee appreciated by 2 paise on Tuesday to settle at 69.81 per US dollar, from 69.83 on the previous trade session.