‘Modi did what we couldn’t in 70 years’: Congress’ jibe over rupee slump

The Congress took on the Modi government after the Indian rupee hit a record low of 70 to the dollar on Tuesday as emerging market currencies were sold off by investors spooked by the Turkish financial crisis.

The Congress on Tuesday took a dig at the Modi government as the rupee hit at all time low of over 70 against the US dollar.

The government blamed “external factors” for the rupee’s fall to an all-time low against the US dollar, with Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chander Garg saying these factors may ease soon. (File Photo)

“Modiji finally managed to do something that we couldn’t do in 70 years,” the party said in a tweet on its official account, attaching a screenshot of the high and lows of the exchange value since July 16.

The Indian rupee and 10-year bond prices rose on Tuesday after retail inflation slowed to a nine month low, providing comfort to the government and Reserve Bank of India.

However, the rupee erased all morning gains to hit an all-time low of over 70 a dollar. At 10:35 am, the rupee was trading at 70.07 a dollar, down 0.21% from its previous close of 68.93. The home currency opened at 69.84 and touched a high of 69.75 a dollar.

Saying there was “nothing to worry”, the government blamed “external factors” for the rupee’s fall to an all-time low against the US dollar, with Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chander Garg saying these factors may ease soon.

“Rupee is depreciating due to external factors,” he said. There is “nothing at this stage to worry”.