Rupee Against Dollar: Rupee Rises Against US Dollar As RBI Likely To Raise Repo Rate By 50 BPS Today

Rupee has climbed 25 paise to 81.60 against US Dollar at the open on Friday as Reserve Bank of India is likely to raise the key lending rates yet again by 50 basis points. Meanwhile, the yield on 10-year bond has surged 2 bps to 7.36% at the open.

Earlier on Thursday, Rupee recovered from its record lows to close 20 paise higher at 81.73 against the greenback. Rupee registered an intraday-high of 81.58 and low of 81.94.

Things are not moving in the desired direction as RBI's Monetary Policy Committee meets today to announce another repo rate hike. Retail inflation in India is soaring, GDP growth missed its targets, and Rupee touched near the 82 per dollar level for the first time.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das in all likelihood may announce a 50 bps repo rate hike today. Earlier, in the August meeting, the RBI governor had pledged to do whatever it takes to control inflation that stayed above 6% in 2022.

Meanwhile, a Bloomberg poll of nearly 46 economists indicates 5.9% for the repo rate. A higher number of economists (34) expects a 50-bps rate hike today, 11 believes there will be a 35-bps rise.

In the month of August this year, RBI raised the key lending rate by 50 bps to 5.40%. This was the third hike in a row in the repo rate to tame the soaring inflation that continued to remain above the upper end of RBI's target in 2022.