Traders expect RBI to step up intervention as rupee slides towards record low

Mumbai

THE rupee's slide towards a record low, amid US$2.7 billion in outflows from Indian stocks and bonds, is prompting speculation the central bank will step up intervention to stem losses.

With a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase next month all but a certainty for bond traders, the rupee has slumped 2.5 per cent in November, the most in 15 months. At 68.4750 per dollar, the currency is within 0.5 per cent of the unprecedented 68.845 reached in 2013. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has probably sold dollars via state-run banks on at least four occasions in less than a fortnight, according to information from traders.