'Rupee 58.58 against Dollar in 2014, it's 85.27 now': Congress recalls PM

NEW DELHI: Congress on Monday took a jibe at the BJP-led central government over the depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar, criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence on the issue, stating that the prime minister had previously launched attacks against the former PM Manmohan Singh when the rupee had fallen during the UPA government’s tenure.
“The then-biological CM of Gujarat had run a loud campaign against the depreciation of the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar in 2014, even resorting to personal attacks on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to score political points. On 16 May, 2014, the rupee closed at Rs 58.58 per USD. Ten years later, the rupee has touched an all-time-low of 85.27 per USD. The INR has achieved the distinction of being the worst-performing currency in Asia,” Congress general secretary for communications Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
Jairam Ramesh, recalled and referred to a 2013 statement by Prime Minister Modi, in which he had criticised the UPA leadership, claiming they had become directionless and were more focused on “saving their chair” than on the country’s defense or the value of its currency.
“The non-biological Prime Minister has no words now but let us remind him of his words from 2013- ‘Crises come, but if during a crisis if the leadership is directionless, hopeless, then the crisis becomes very grave… It is our country’s misfortune that the rulers in Delhi are neither worried about the country’s defence nor about the falling value of the rupee…If they are worried, it is only about saving their chair,'” the Congress general secretary remarked, quoting PM Modi.

Ramesh questioned the effectiveness of the RBI’s currency stabilisation efforts, stating that, “Remember all of this depreciation is despite the Government and RBI’s de facto currency peg – as the Prime Minister’s former chief economic advisor has pointed out in recent weeks. The RBI has used billions of dollars of our foreign exchange reserves to stabilise the rupee, to no effect. How many billions have been used?”
Earlier on Monday, the rupee declined by 4 paise to 85.52 against the US dollar in early trading, affected by importer dollar demand, foreign fund outflows, and subdued domestic market performance.
Currency traders noted significant volatility on Friday and Monday, attributed to December currency futures expiry and maturing forward positions, news agency PTI reported.
Rupee experienced its most substantial decline in nearly two years, reaching an all-time intraday low of 85.80, on Friday, before recovering slightly to close at 85.48 against the US dollar following suspected central bank intervention.