₹ closes at lifetime low of 82.33/$

Mumbai: The rupee closed at a new low of 82.33 in the interbank foreign exchange market on Friday. While the Indian currency had closed at 81.89 on Thursday, it later weakened to 82.30 in postmarket trade following large-scale dollar purchases by state-owned banks, ostensibly for defence requirements.

The rupee opened weak on Friday and hit a low of 82.41. There was mild intervention by the RBI, which supported the domestic currency marginally but could not prevent its closing at the fresh lifetime low.

The rupee weakened even as the RBI reported that the country’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by $4.85 billion to $532 billion as of September 30 — the lowest level since July 2020. This was the ninth consecutive week of decline. Foreign exchange reserves had touched a high of $645 billion in October 2021.