New Delhi: Addressing the Parliament, Union Finance Ministry Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that the rupee has been strong against every currency as she accused the opposition leaders of "having a problem with" the country's increasing economy.
In a reply to questions regarding the currency devaluation in Lok Sabha, FM Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The Indian rupee has been strong against every currency. Reserve Bank has used foreign exchange reserves that it has to intervene in the market to make sure that the Dollar-Rupee fluctuation does not go too much,” quoted news agency ANI.
“It is sad that some people in Parliament are jealous of the country's increasing economy. India has the fastest-growing economy but the opposition has a problem with it. Everyone should be proud of India's growth but some people take it as a joke,” she added in Lok Sabha.
This came as a Congress member of parliament from Telangana, AR Reddy, raised a question on the Indian rupee status during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha. Later AR Reddy accused Finance Minister of saying bad things about his language. He said, “The Finance Minister said bad things about me because my language is not so good and because I am a ‘shudra’.”
“Members do not come here on the basis of caste or religion,” Speaker Om Birla remarked.
In the written reply to the house, the Finance minister said, “The exchange rate of the Indian Rupee (INR) against the dollar was Rs 83.20 per dollar on October 20, 2022. The value of INR is market-determined. As global spillovers from geo-political tensions and aggressive monetary policy tightening across the world intensified alongside a surge in crude oil prices, the US dollar strengthened by 7.8 per cent in the financial year (till November 30, 2022). The INR depreciated by 6.9 per cent in the current financial year (till November 30, 2022).”