ou better be worried if you have plans to study abroad, or planning an overseas vacation.
The rupee closed at 51.33 to a dollar on Friday, and fast galloping towards the all-time low of 52.17 it had touched in March 2009.
A weaker rupee implies you end up paying more to buy dollars to pay for your fees and expenses. So, your study loans might go up.
Likewise, an overseas holiday will cost more as the dollar has become expensive.
A weaker rupee, on the other hand, would mean exporters’ earnings in rupee terms will go up.
Close to its all-time low, the rupee has companies worried. And the prognosis isn’t bullish.
Economists expect the rupee to fall further.
The exchange rate of a currency, like most commodities, is determined by the laws of demand and supply. Foreign institutional investors are cashing out and diving into safer investment bets such as US government bonds. This is making dollars scarce and reducing demand for rupees.
Concurrently, the spurt in crude oil prices has pushed up demand for dollars India’s import of crude oil.
The RBI can intervene and prop up the rupee by selling dollars in the market, but economists do not expect the central bank to manage the rupee’s rate actively, unless it swings violently.
“Given recent indications, I don’t think the RBI will actively intervene to arrest the rupee’s fall, unless there is extreme volatility in the currency market,” said NR Bhanumurthy, Professor of economics at Delhi-based think-tank National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP).

For exporters, a falling rupee (generally considered good as they get more rupees per dollar) comes alongside a drying up of orders abroad.
But shrinking world demand would affect orders, especially for India’s handicrafts, gems and jewellery, leather and textile sectors, negating the gains from a weaker domestic currency.
India’s exports growth