Compared to other currencies, the rupee has fared quite well against the dollar: Minister of Finance

The finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, claimed on Saturday that the rupee had “held back extremely well” versus the US dollar when compared to other global currencies.

In response to the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hike announcement, the dollar gained ground against all other major currencies on Friday, and the rupee, for the first time, crossed the 81-mark against it before finishing at 80.98.

She said that the Reserve Bank of India and the Finance Ministry are keeping a very careful eye on the situation in response to questions regarding the all-time low the rupee recorded against the dollar on Friday.

Regarding rising inflation, the finance minister stated that the union administration was making every effort to control the situation and ensure that the general public would not suffer.

At the conclusion of her three-day visit to the Baramati Lok Sabha seat, Sitharaman made her remarks.

In response to criticism levelled at the new Maharashtra government by the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance over the relocation of the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor unit to Gujarat, she said that those raising concerns about the plant’s relocation after it was first proposed in Maharashtra should first address the four megaprojects that were stalled under the previous administration.

According to Sitharaman, it is a brawl between the ruling alliance and the opposition alliance because people in the former administration want to hide their mistakes.

The union minister’s evaluation of the Baramati tour, where she had travelled to increase the BJP’s support, was, “It was centred on meeting with organisational units in the constituency. It is crucial for the party and its unit to grow. Thus, feedback regarding the BJP’s services to the people was received from the ground.

She added that the local cadres had told her that only BJP officials were on the ground to serve the public throughout the COVID period, and that the BJP cadre in Baramati had been doing an excellent job at it.