Let The Rupee Cross 100, Don't Bleed Reserves Defending It: Panagariya To RBI

Summary

The Reserve Bank of India should not defend the rupee's value as it approaches one hundred rupees to the dollar, according to Arvind Panagariya, Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission. Panagariya argues that defending the rupee would only deplete India's foreign currency reserves, and that depreciation is a rational response to the current oil shortage. The rupee, which is currently the worst performing Asian currency, having depreciated six point six percent in two thousand twenty-six, will recover once the import bill shrinks if the oil supply crunch is short-lived.