The Indian rupee on Friday fell to an all-time low of 90.55 against the United States dollar amid uncertainty about a trade deal between New Delhi and Washington, Reuters reported.
As of 1.50 pm, it had recovered marginally to 90.37. The previous all-time low of 90.46 was hit on Thursday.
The rupee also weakened because of the continued outflow of foreign capital from the equity market.
It has fallen about 6% in 2025, Reuters reported. This makes the rupee the worst-performing Asian currency of 2025.
Foreign investors have pulled out $18 billion from the Indian equity market this year, according to Reuters. The merchandise trade deficit, or when imports of goods exceed exports, had also hit an all-time high in October.
Without a trade deal with Washington, Indian goods are facing a combined US tariff rate of 50%. A 25% so-called reciprocal duty was imposed on August 7, followed by an additional 25% punitive levy on August 27.
The punitive tariffs were introduced as part of US President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against countries purchasing discounted oil from Russia amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
However, trade talks between the two countries have gained fresh momentum in recent months.
The Opposition has targeted the Union government for the fall in the value of the rupee.
On December 4, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the rupee was weakening because of the policies of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. “If the government’s policy were good, the value of the rupee would increase,” he had told reporters outside Parliament.
Kharge’s comment came a day after Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said that he was “not losing sleep” over the fall in the value of the rupee as it was not impacting inflation or exports.
