Among all Asian and BRICS currencies, “Rupee” turned out to be one of the best performers in 2015 excluding yen.
- Indian currency’s depreciation of 5% against the dollar was less than the losses of most of its other Asian peers. It fared better in 2014, when it weakened by only 2%.
- Its Asian counterparts like the Indonesian rupiah weakened by 11.30 % and the Thai baht depreciated 9.5% against the dollar. Only Chinese currency fared marginally better, losing only 6%.
BRICS nations
Among the BRICS nations also Indian currency did well. The Brazilian real depreciated 49% against the dollar while the South African rand declined 34.75%.
- The Indian currency tumbled 4% in 2013 but started recovering in 2014.
Forex reserves
The country’s foreign exchange reserves rose by more than $75 billion since the currency crisis of 2013. From about $274.8 billion in early September 2013, foreign exchange reserves rose to $351 billion as on 25 December, 2015.
- Since the currency crisis, the twin deficits – fiscal and current account have narrowed.
- In 2013-14, the fiscal deficit was 4.5% of the GDP, which is now seen at 3.9% for 2015-16.
Similarly, the current account deficit in the first quarter of 2013-14 was 4.9% of the GDP but narrowed to 1.6% of GDP during the July-September quarter of the current financial year and is expected to be 1% of GDP in 2015-16, mainly due to soft crude oil prices.