NEW DELHI: RBI guv Sanjay Malhotra stated on Thursday that the reserve bank does not go for any specific level for the rupee, and devaluation of rupee is driven simply by market need, with current devaluation connected to tariffs.
“We do not target any level for the rupee,” Malhotra stated at an occasion at the Delhi School of Economics. “Ultimately, it’s a commodity…a financial instrument. If demand for the dollar rises, the rupee will depreciate. Recent movement is linked to trade expectations and muted capital flows, but we are quite confident a good trade deal will happen soon, and we have very good buffer of foreign exchange at $690 billion,” he included.
Malhotra likewise stated RBI stayed “very cautious” on cryptocurrencies since of its threats, while promoting their own digital rupee (CBDC) for domestic and cross-border payments. “We have a very sound digital payments system with UPI and NEFT. Our focus is on CBDC, which is a crypto backed by the central bank,” he stated, including that govt and its working group will take the last get in touch with the policy structure for crypto.
He likewise reacted to a concern on Indian banking growth to the worldwide phase, stating that India did not have a “target number of banks” to end up being huge, however fast financial development and increasing bank balance sheets suggested “it is only a matter of time before several Indian banks enter the world’s top 100”The rupee has actually continued its slide considering that the United States enforced a 100% tariff on numerous exports in Oct 2025, triggering risk-averse financiers to cut direct exposure. The currency has actually lost 3.5-3.6% versus the dollar considering that Aug and has actually traded near record lows around Rs 88.7/$ after intraday fall of approximately 0.7%. A more powerful dollar, firmer crude and wider Asian currency weak point have actually intensified the pressure. RBI has actually actioned in to avoid a steeper drop, keeping the rupee in a narrow band, however traders caution that a breach of Rs 89/$ might require more aggressive intervention.