Rupee in free fall as buyers make beeline for foreign currencies

The rupee’s free fall and the dollar’s seemingly unstoppable rise have made the former almost irrelevant to the economy as queues for purchasing the greenback are growing by the day. According to currency dealers, the finance minister’s statement that the situation was worse than she had realised, sent waves of shocks in the exchange rate market. Malik Bostan, President of the Forex Association, said the government should work out a strategy to check the rupee’s fall and the dollar’s rise. However, the dollar kept up its unrelenting march towards freedom from control of the market, the State Bank and the government, on Thursday. The dollar went up by Rs1.09 to record Rs305.54 in interbank on Thursday while the open market price was quoted as Rs323 — an increase of Rs3.5 in one day. The open market at one time went beyond Rs326 while the grey market sold dollar for Rs335.