CENTRE TO TAKE ACTION AT RIGHT TIME: OFFICIAL

New Delhi, Oct. 11: Attributing the slump in stock and currency markets to external factors, a finance ministry official on Thursday said more steps will be taken to check current account deficit (CAD) and hoped that the rupee would appreciate.

While the Sensex in the early trade crashed over 1,000 points, the rupee fell to a record low of 74.45 to a dollar. “What happened in US yesterday had a ripple effect here today. The IMF has downgraded global growth rate, US growth rate for next year, both these had impact on markets,” the official told reporters.

The government will take action at an appropriate time to check widening CAD and going forward there are indications that oil prices will fall, which will have positive implications on the rupee.

“Rupee, Balance of Payments, CAD are the main worries, we have strategy in place to tackle situation. We will take action at opportune time on these issues,” the official said.

He said Indian market is still relatively stable compared with other equity markets. “The rupee may remain firm if oil prices stay range bound. We do believe that rupee should appreciate from this level,” the official added. The Sensex, in the opening trade, crashed 1,030 points to slip below the key 34,000mark, tracking a global sell-off as the rupee hit yet another record low of 74.45 against dollar.