Rupee rebounds as new governor takes charge

India's currency has been lifted from its record lows as Raghuram Rajan prepares to take the helm at the central bank.

The rupee rebounded sharply from near record lows on Wednesday as India prepared to invest Raghuram Rajan as the new governor of the Reserve Bank of India. According to Bloomberg, the central bank intervened to prevent the ailing currency falling below its all-time low of 68.8450 per dollar, reached last week, by easing overseas borrowing rules and (it's suspected by currency dealers) heavy US dollar selling. The measures pushed the rupee up 1% to 67.09 per dollar.

India's currency has fallen by 11.5% this quarter the worst performance by 24 emerging-market currencies followed by Bloomberg and is down 20% since the end of 2012. Rajan, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, and one of the first to predict the 2008 financial crisis, starts his new job as the country faces its worst economic crisis for 20 years. Although it's unclear what his approach will be, he faces many challenges besides the rupee.

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