Rupee gains 8 paise to 81.80 against US dollar in afternoon trade

MUMBAI: The rupee rose by 8 paise to 81.80 against the US dollar in afternoon trade on Wednesday as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget in the Lok Sabha.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.76 against the dollar, registering a rise of 12 paise over its previous close. The local unit was later trading at 81.80 against the greenback.

Sitharaman in her Budget speech said retained the country's fiscal deficit target of 6.4 pc in the Revised Estimate for FY23 and cut it to 5.9 per cent for FY24.

She said that the fiscal deficit is to be brought down to below 4.5 pc by 2025-26.

The government's fiscal deficit as of end-December touched 59.8 per cent of the full-year Budget Estimate on subdued growth in revenue collections, according to finance ministry data released on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, on Wednesday fell 0.05 per cent to 102.04.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.48 per cent to USD 84.49 per barrel.

On Tuesday, the rupee depreciated by 36 paise to close at a three-week low of 81.88 against the US dollar after the Economic Survey 2022-23 said the domestic unit may remain under pressure on account of plateauing of exports and subsequent widening of the current account deficit.

Sitharaman on Wednesday said that the world has recognised India as a bright star as the country is recording healthy economic growth despite global uncertainties.

India's growth at 7 per cent in the current fiscal is the highest among major economies and the Indian economy is on the right track, she said in her Budget speech.

The economy is pegged to grow by 7 per cent in FY23 (2022-23) and 6.5 per cent (6.0-6.8 per cent) in FY24 as the global environment remains rife with uncertainty.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 516.32 points or 0.87 per cent higher at 60,066.22. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 130.05 points or 0.74 per cent to 17,792.20.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 5,439.64 crore, according to exchange data.