5 measures to boost rupee, says more in offing |
After a several-hour-long meeting of key finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India officials with the Prime Minister, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley announced on Friday five specific measures to cut down the current account deficit in an attempt to strengthen the rupee which has lost close to 13% against the dollar since January 1, and said more measures, including curbs on non-essential imports and promotion of exports, would be announced soon. Soon after Jaitley`s late evening announcement, economic affairs secretary SC Garg told TV channel CNBC TV18 that the five measures would have an impact of $8-10 billion. India`s current account deficit for the April-June quarter was the highest in four quarters at 2.4% of GDP. The five measures announced by the finance minister are all aimed at increasing inflow and reducing outflow of dollars. The measures include two that pertain to external currency borrowings: a review of the mandatory hedging conditions for external infrastructure loans and the permission for manufacturing companies to raise up to $50 million through such loans for a minimum period of a year (down from three previously).
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