We have to take these things in stride and move on and avoid exaggeration,'' observes Mr Mitra. Despite this, the Reserve Bank is not directly intervening to shore up the rupee. Then, oil inventories are at their lowest levels. Figures by the American Petroleum Institute put inventories at decade-low levels at around 286 million barrels. And if oil prices were to fall, they will use that chance to replenish stocks, further affecting prices.
Most experts feel the rupee is clearly headed southwards in the coming days.
Senior treasury officials say they expect the rupee to remain in the Rs 46 to Rs 46.50 range. If you are to say that the other currencies have fallen steeper against the dollar, then it is clear that the rupee will slide further, but I do not think that you are going to have 35-40 paise falls every day. It will dip in a more controlled manner,'' says e-Mekclai's Mr Subramanian. The Union government, according to informed sources, is gearing up to announce an increase in prices of petroleum products by the weekend or latest by early next week, when petroleum minister, Ram Naik returns from Indonesia. It is generally felt that the price rise would be steep as the government has to take care of huge oil pool deficit because of spiraling prices of crude in the international market.