Nirmala Sitharaman: didn’t tell reporter I want devaluation

New Delhi: The government sent mixed messages on Thursday whether it wanted a weaker rupee, with commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying she had not told a reporter the government was discussing a devaluation but stopping short of an outright denial.

“I had no conversation on devaluation of any currency with any news correspondent. Any quotes/mentions referring to me on this topic baseless,” Sitharaman said in a tweet in response to reports that her department had called for a devaluation.

The finance ministry, which has a far more central role in economic policy, denied that any discussion on a devaluation had taken place. Reuters