If the RBI and Trump government cooperate, the rupee might reach 87/$ by March.

Mumbai: By March 2025, analysts from Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank, among others, predict that the value of the Indian rupee would have dropped to 87 versus the US dollar.They warned that the rupee would reach the 87 level before the end of current fiscal year if the tariff battle intensifies and the Reserve Bank of India loosens its foreign exchange market intervention approach.According to Anubhuti Sahay, head of India Economic Research at Standard Chartered Bank, "the RBI has shown higher tolerance for a weaker INR in the last few weeks, as seen in the FX market." "A stronger USD has caused the INR to decline by 1.6% from the end of November 2024. Such a rate of depreciation was observed across a number of months rather than just one month in comparable prior episodes," she said.

Between April and September, the rupee lost 0.47% of its value in relation to the US dollar; but, since October, the depreciation has accelerated to 2.21%.Economists claim that the wide dollar strength in the face of US exceptionalism, tariff threats, and a narrowing emerging market rate gap with the US is what has caused the rupee's pressure and the ongoing weakness in Asian forex markets.