Naveen expresses concern over falling rupee

Says depreciation of rupee against dollar would cause further price rise and add to the woes of the common man

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today launched a scathing attack on the UPA government for continuous fall in the value of rupee against dollar, putting the blame for such a syndrome on 'poor macroeconomic policies' of the Centre.

Patnaik said the depreciation of rupee against dollar would cause further price rise and add to the woes of the common man.

"It is shocking that the rupee has breached the 65 mark vis-a vis the dollar. It tells all about macroeconomic policies of the UPA government at the Centre," said Patnaik.

Stating that it was a matter of time before the prices of petrol, diesel and fertilisers go up, he said, "This is going to severely affect the common man by way of further price rise.''

The 30-share Sensex declined 590.05 points or 3.18 per cent to close at 17,968.08 today and the 50-share Nifty dropped 189.05 points or 3.45 per cent to reach 5,287.45 mirroring the concerns after the rupee tumbled to a record-low of Rs 66 per US dollar.

"To discourage imports into the country, the Centre has imposed duties, especially to arrest the imports of gold," said Parasad Harichandan, senior Congress leader and Opposition chief whip.

It may be noted that import duty on gold has been hiked recently to 10 percent, to control the current account deficit.