The Indian rupee has rallied around 2% over the past three sessions, improving its standing among Asian currencies after ranking as the region’s worst performer until last week.
The currency had weakened by more than 7% between January and last Friday. However, its year-to-date decline has now narrowed to around 5.4%, putting it ahead of several regional peers.
The Indonesian rupiah has emerged as Asia’s worst-performing currency, falling 6.8% year to date, a position held by the Indian rupee until Friday. The Philippine peso ranks second-worst, down 6.3%, followed by the Thai baht, which has declined 6.2%, according to Bloomberg data.
At the other end of the spectrum, South Korea’s won has outperformed its Asian peers, gaining 8.2% over the same period, while the Chinese renminbi has risen 4.4%.
The rupee’s recent recovery follows comments by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra, who said the central bank remained open to taking further measures to support the currency. His remarks came days after the RBI announced a series of measures aimed at stabilising the rupee.
On Monday, the currency gained nearly 1% after the RBI opened a special foreign exchange window to meet the dollar requirements of oil marketing companies and raised the daily cash reserve ratio (CRR) limit for banks from 90% to 99% to absorb excess liquidity.
In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, Malhotra said the central bank would consider additional measures, if necessary, to curb speculative trading in the foreign exchange market.
“The RBI is determined to do whatever is necessary to ensure orderly movement in the foreign-exchange market,” Malhotra said in the interview.
A weaker US dollar has also supported the rupee’s recovery. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell for a second consecutive session, slipping around 0.42% over the past two sessions as investors awaited US inflation data for fresh clues on the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate outlook.
The RBI’s measures have also helped the rupee move below its 50-day and 100-day moving averages, cited at 95.59 and 95.51, respectively. The currency is currently trading at 95.05 against the US dollar.
The rupee was also Asia’s worst-performing currency last year, declining 4.8%. The Indonesian rupiah and Philippine peso fell 3.5% and 1.7%, respectively, in 2025. In contrast, the Malaysian ringgit and Thai baht were the region’s top performers, gaining 10.1% and 8.2%, respectively.
