Arun Jaitley blames 'global reasons' for fall of rupee, says 'no need to panic'

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said there is no need to worry over the steep fall in the Indian rupee's value against the US dollar as the inherent strength of the country's economy will aid in arresting the downtrend.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Photo: PTI

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said there is no need to worry over the steep fall in the Indian rupee's value against the US dollar as the inherent strength of the country's economy will aid in arresting the downtrend. According to Jaitley, the recent trend in the Indian rupee's devaluation has been caused due to external factors such as fluctuations in the global crude oil prices, trade war tensions and outflows of funds towards the US. "If you look at the domestic economic situation and global situation, there are not domestic reasons attributable to this, but all reasons are global," Jaitley said at a media briefing after the meeting of the Union Cabinet. "The Reserve Bank of India is certainly doing whatever is necessary. I don't think there is any need for the world's fastest-growing economy to come out with panic and knee-jerk reaction...," he said. "We must bear in mind that the US Dollar has strengthened against almost every currency. The Rupee has either consistently strengthened or remained in a range, not weakened. Most of the other currencies of the world, compared to what it was 4-5 years ago, the Rupee is better off," he stated. On rising fuel prices, Jaitley said: "There is no straight-line movement of global crude oil prices; they go up, they go down. These situations do not merit a panic reaction."