Losing sleep over falling rupee? CEA Anantha Nageswaran predicts currency to improve against dollar in 2026

Rupee at record low: Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran on Wednesday, 3 December, said people should not be worried or lose sleep over the sliding Indian rupee. The domestic currency touched an all-time low against the US dollar on Wednesday, briefly breaching the psychological 90 mark.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) event, Nageswaran said, "It will come back next year. Right now, it's not hurting our exports or inflation."

"I am not losing my sleep over it. If it has to depreciate, now probably is the right time," he added.

CEA Nageswaran also expressed confidence that the rupee would improve against the US dollar next year.

Rupee drops below 90

The Indian rupee on Wednesday dropped below the psychologically important 90 per US dollar mark to hit a fresh record low amid uncertainty over the India-US trade deal.

According to Morningstar data, the rupee dropped to 90.10 per US dollar at 9:11 AM UTC (2:41 PM IST), crossing its previous all-time low of 89.95 set earlier this week.

Mint reported earlier that the Indian rupee opened at 89.91 against the US dollar in Wednesday's currency market session, but it soon slipped below the 90 level.

The rupee is facing multiple pressures. According to the Bloomberg US Dollar spot price, the greenback was trading 0.21% lower at 99.15 as of 4:28 AM EST on Wednesday.

According to the report, over the two trading sessions in December, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded shares worth ₹4,335 crore, increasing the year-to-date outflow to ₹148,010 crore.

India's trade deficit also increased to a record level of $41.7 billion as per the October 2025 data, due to a dynamic surge in gold imports amid high festive season demand.

At 2:46 PM IST, the BSE Sensex was trading 0.10% lower at 85,052.17 points, compared to 85,138.27 at the previous market close, as the benchmark indices also felt the pressure from a declining rupee.

The Nifty 50 was trading 0.24% lower at 25,968.55 as of 2:58 PM IST, compared to 26,032.20 points at the previous market close, according to exchange data.

(With inputs from Rituraj Baruah)

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