Rupee not falling against any currency other than US dollar: Nirmala Sitharaman

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday rejected criticism over the slide of the Indian rupee, saying it has depreciated only against a strengthening US dollar but remained stable against all other currencies because of the strong macroeconomic fundamentals.

In an interview with PTI, she said a 3 per cent depreciation in the rupee against the US dollar in past few months is a matter of concern as it makes imports costlier, but she rejected criticism that the local currency has seen all-round weakness.

"I am concerned but I will not accept the criticism that 'Oh Rupee is weakening!' Our macroeconomic fundamentals are strong. Rupee wouldn't be stable against all the currencies if the fundamentals were weak," she said.

"Rupee's volatility is against the dollar. Rupee has behaved in a far more stable fashion than any other currency. RBI also has been looking at ways in which it will interfere in the market only to stabilise the need for avoiding huge volatility based reasons. So we are all closely watching the situation," she said.

She termed critics pointing to rupee volatility and depreciation as "a very quick argument".

"But in today's dollar strengthening environment and in the new US administration, the rupee will have to be understood in its relationship with the dollar (and) the fluctuations which come as a result of that. Criticisms can come, but those criticisms will also have to go with a response with a bit more study," she added.