Crying currency! Rupee opens 12 paise weaker at 66.77 against US Dollar

On macroeconomic front, IMF has downwardly revised its growth forecasts for the third consecutive time in last 12 months and now projects the world economy to grow at 3.4% in 2016 and 3.6% in 2017, about .2% lower than previous estimates.

Indian Rupee opened at 66.77/$,down 12 paise in early trade on Wednesday as against the previous close of 66.65/$.The Indian Rupee slipped to lowest level since September 2015. On macroeconomic front, IMF has downwardly revised its growth forecasts for the third consecutive time in last 12 months and now projects the world economy to grow at 3.4% in 2016 and 3.6% in 2017, about .2% lower than previous estimates. China's growth is expected at 6.3% in 2016 and 6% next year. Growth outlook for the US has been lowered as well, weighed down by strong US dollar, ensuing weak exports and lower investments in energy sector. US economy is forecasted to grow at 2.6% for 2016 and 2017, down 0.2% from its October forecast. Europe is forecasted to expand by 1.7% this year.

 The rupee is currently trading at 68.02/$, down 47 paise. On Tuesday, the rupee ended at 67.65/$, up by 3 paise. The currency touched a high and low of 67.88 and 67.72 respectively. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 67.56 and for Euro stood at 73.50 on January 19, 2016. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 57.37, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 96.4192.