As PM Modi prepares to turn 75, rupee falls well past 86 to dollar: Congress

New Delhi, Jan 13 (PTI) Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over fall in the value of rupee, the Congress on Monday said as the fall continues, he has clearly been "hoist with his own petard".

The rupee logged its steepest fall in nearly two years, plunging 55 paise to hit a historic low of 86.59 against the US dollar during mid-session on Monday due to strengthening of the American currency and surging crude oil prices.

"When Mr. Narendra Modi took over as PM he was about to turn 64 and the rupee was at 58.58 to the dollar. He waxed eloquent on making the rupee stronger and mockingly linked its fall to his predecessor's age," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

"Well, now as Mr. Modi prepares to turn 75 later in the year, the rupee has already declined well past 86 to the dollar. As the fall continues, Mr. Modi has clearly been hoist with his own petard!" At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 86.12 and fell to the lowest ever level of 86.59 against the greenback during mid-session, registering a loss of 55 paise from its previous close.

The local unit, however, pared some losses and was later trading 46 paise down at 86.50 versus the dollar.

The fall of 55 paise or 0.65 per cent in one session was the steepest since February 6, 2023 when the unit had lost 68 paise.

The Indian currency has witnessed the deepest plunge of more that Re 1 in the past two weeks from the closing level of 85.52 on December 30.

The Congress has been attacking the government over its handling of the economy, pointing to falling investments and value of rupee.

"While the non-biological PM is rediscovering that he is a human after all, foreign investors in our stock markets have ushered in 2025 by taking out $2 billion just in the past six days. This shows: The growing impact of our weak macro fundamentals - stagnant wages, faltering private investment, slowdown in consumption growth," Ramesh said in a post on X earlier on Friday.

This also shows complete lack of investor confidence in India’s financial markets after disclosures about the SEBI chairperson’s conflicts of interests and India’s continuing decline as a destination for foreign investment - direct or indirect - compared to other countries, including Vietnam and Malaysia, he added.

The Congress leader said the rupee is hitting new lows against the dollar day after day which increases currency risks. PTI