Rupee — Stronger the better

By Ramesh Akkineni
from an article in Business  Line  by  Anil Singhvi
Infrastructure, the key

To sustain the economic growth of 9 per cent, India needs to spend a huge amount of money on infrastructure projects. It is estimated that country would need over $400 billion in the next five years to spend on infrastructure. The domestic saving rate is rising very well but yet not sufficient to meet the total requirement of capital to build the required infrastructure.

In this situation, it is crucial that the country attracts foreign capital for investing in infrastructure projects.

Hitherto infrastructure growth was happening at a slow pace due to the high rate of interest, the high inflation levels and a depreciating currency.

In view of huge requirement of foreign capital, it is of utmost importance that the country has an appreciating currency to instil the confidence among foreign investors. Thus, an appreciating currency is the need of the hour and any lobby against this is counterproductive and going against the economic growth story of India.

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