FM holds meeting with key officials on Rupee slide

Govt is considering steps to increase portfolio investment and FDI to attract overseas funds into the country

Faced with the depreciating rupee, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today held meeting with top officials and is understood to have discussed steps to check its slide against the US dollar.

The high-level meeting comes against the backdrop of the rupee touching a record low of 58.98 to a dollar yesterday. It was hovering around 58.18 in today's trade.

Sources said the meeting was attended by Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, Chief Economic Advsior Raghuram Rajan and Additional Secretary Shaktikanta Das.

The government is considering steps to increase portfolio and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to attract overseas funds into the country.

Besides, the Finance Ministry is also working on measures to attract FII money into the government securities segment.

The rupee has depreciated by over 3% against the US dollar in the last three days. RBI intervened in forex market to stem the slide of rupee yesterday.

Since January 1, the rupee value has fallen by 5.5% against the dollar.

Government has been looking at the possibility of raising FDI cap in various sectors, including defence, and has already set up a committee to review the ceiling in other areas.

The rupee decline is being attributed to surge in dollar value against several currencies across the world and India's rising Current Account Deficit (CAD), which is estimated to have increased to 5% of GDP in 2012-13.