The Crossbill News Desk
The Indian currency continued its downward spiral on Wednesday, December 3, slipping past the symbolic 90-per-dollar threshold for the first time as it weakened to 90.02 in early trade, according to news agency PTI.
Persistent dollar purchases by banks and sustained Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) outflows added pressure, extending the slide that had already pushed the rupee to a historic closing low of 89.96 on Tuesday.
The fall has left the rupee trailing behind other Asian currencies, including the Chinese Yuan and Indonesian Rupiah, reinforcing its status as the region’s weakest performer.
Forex analysts noted that “a weaker dollar index and a fall in global crude oil prices cushioned against a steeper decline”, even as the currency briefly touched an unprecedented intraday low of 90.15 before stabilising slightly at 90.02, just 6 paise below its previous close. While the depreciation may benefit exporters, economists warn that India’s sizable and persistent trade deficit could amplify the impact on imports, especially essential goods, making them costlier.
The latest slide comes despite extensive efforts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to support the currency. Anil Kumar Bhansali, head of treasury and executive director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, told the Press Trust of India that the rupee “might hit 91 levels in this cycle if the RBI support eases at 90.”
Businessline recently reported that RBI’s interventions had soared to nearly $26 billion between September and November 2025 in an attempt to stabilise the exchange rate.
The weakening trajectory has coincided with broader economic concerns, including tariff uncertainties, hiring freezes and a slowdown in white-collar employment.
Reuters, pointing to the lack of visible RBI support during the trading session, quoted Sat Duhra, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors in Singapore, as saying, “The weak macro picture in India makes weak currency performance inevitable, there has been a slide in so many data points recently – rising trade deficits, weakening nominal GDP growth, weak FDI and foreigner selling down domestic equities, etc.” Overall, the rupee has now depreciated 6.5% since May, underscoring the depth of the challenges facing India’s external and domestic economy.
Persistent dollar purchases by banks and sustained Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) outflows added pressure, extending the slide that had already pushed the rupee to a historic closing low of 89.96 on Tuesday.
The fall has left the rupee trailing behind other Asian currencies, including the Chinese Yuan and Indonesian Rupiah, reinforcing its status as the region’s weakest performer.
Forex analysts noted that “a weaker dollar index and a fall in global crude oil prices cushioned against a steeper decline”, even as the currency briefly touched an unprecedented intraday low of 90.15 before stabilising slightly at 90.02, just 6 paise below its previous close. While the depreciation may benefit exporters, economists warn that India’s sizable and persistent trade deficit could amplify the impact on imports, especially essential goods, making them costlier.
The latest slide comes despite extensive efforts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to support the currency. Anil Kumar Bhansali, head of treasury and executive director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, told the Press Trust of India that the rupee “might hit 91 levels in this cycle if the RBI support eases at 90.”
Businessline recently reported that RBI’s interventions had soared to nearly $26 billion between September and November 2025 in an attempt to stabilise the exchange rate.
The weakening trajectory has coincided with broader economic concerns, including tariff uncertainties, hiring freezes and a slowdown in white-collar employment.
Reuters, pointing to the lack of visible RBI support during the trading session, quoted Sat Duhra, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors in Singapore, as saying, “The weak macro picture in India makes weak currency performance inevitable, there has been a slide in so many data points recently – rising trade deficits, weakening nominal GDP growth, weak FDI and foreigner selling down domestic equities, etc.” Overall, the rupee has now depreciated 6.5% since May, underscoring the depth of the challenges facing India’s external and domestic economy.
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