In a bid to bring down high inflation, the Fed has, since March 2022, hiked interest rates by 450 basis points
The rupee weakened sharply against the US dollar in early trade Wednesday after comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested that the central bank would tighten monetary policy to a greater extent than earlier anticipated.
With the US dollar index surging to a three-month high following Powell’s comments, emerging market currencies including the rupee, took a beating versus the greenback.
At 09:40 am IST, the rupee was trading at 82.20 per US dollar as against 81.92 per US dollar at previous close. The Indian currency market was shut on Tuesday for Holi.
While delivering his semi-annual testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, Powell said that latest US economic data was stronger than expected, suggesting that the final level of interest rates would likely be higher than previously expected.
