Rupee Depreciation and Impact on the Economy
(Dr. Nikhil Saket, Senior Assistant Secretary, ICAI, New Delhi)

Introduction
Depreciation refers to a fall in the value of the domestic currency which is caused by the demand for foreign currency exceeding its supply in the market. In such a situation one has to pay more than before to get units of foreign currency. This fall takes place in the market and on its own. Market determined exchange rate serves the purpose of aligning the domestic economy with the world economy was the price route. As consequences the domestic price gets linked up with those of the world price. With the liberalizations and globalization of the economy in recent years, imports are bound to increase. The lessening of restrictions on imports and lowering of tariff on imports which the economic reform implies, an increase in imports has in fact taken place. Again with trade having become an important element of the new strategy of growth. India got freedom from British rule on Aug 15, 1947. At that time the Indian rupee was linked to the British pound and its value was at par with the American dollar. There was no foreign borrowing on India's balance sheet. To finance welfare and development activities, especially with the introduction of the Five-Year Plan in 1951, the government started external borrowings. This required the devaluation of the rupee.- After independence, Indian choose to adopt a fixed rate currency regime. The rupee was pegged at 4.79 against a dollar between 1948 and 1966. India faced a serious balance of payment crisis in 1991 and was forced to sharply devalue its currency. The country was in the grip of high inflation, low growth and the foreign reserves were not even worth to meet three weeks of imports. Under this situation, the currency was devalued to 17.90 against a dollar. India being a developing economy with high