Economic affairs Secretary Arvind
Mayaram expects the rupee to strengthen to 50 to 51
per dollar in a couple of months, compared with 52.82 last week. It has surged
more than 5 percent against the dollar in the past
three months, the most among major Asian currencies, buoyed by the biggest
opening of the economy to overseas companies in a decade.
The pace of Indian price increases is the fastest
in major emerging markets and above the central bank’s comfort level of about 5
percent. Inflation hasn’t been tamed yet and supply
constraints are adding to price pressures, Chidambaram said.
A further advance in the rupee will help to curb
the increase in costs, he said. The central bank can’t be expected to bear the
burden of containing inflation by itself, the finance minister said.