Damage Control: India seeks to stop currency fall

MUMBAI: India’s finance minister P Chidambaram met with top bankers Saturday to discuss ways to boost the weak rupee and bring in more foreign capital to bridge a trade gap that has put pressure on the currency. As the United States economy picks up, the Federal Reserve is expected to start winding down its bond-buying stimulus scheme which has helped fuel an investment splurge in Asia’s emerging markets. “The meeting was mainly to seek ideas and suggestions on what can be done about capital inflows. It was a very good and positive meeting,” said ICICI Bank’s Chief Executive Chanda Kochhar. India’s large current account deficit  must be funded with foreign capital, and the country is seen as one of the most vulnerable among emerging market nations whose currencies are under pressure globally. India’s rupee recovered from historic lows against the dollar Friday, marking its biggest single-day gain in nearly a year, but analysts warned the currency’s overall trend was still bearish.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th 2013.

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