Rupee to stabilise very soon: Official
Kolkata, Aug 18 : The Indian rupee, which has been depreciating against the dollar on account of external factors, will "stabilise" soon with the fundamental equation for trade unchanged, an official said here on Saturday.
"This breaching of 70 (mark) was on account of external factors largely on what happened in Turkey. Our fundamental equation for the trade has not been changed. Oil prices have not gone up.
"The demand-supply situation for dollars in the Indian economy has not got altered... our perception is that very soon it (rupee) will stabilise and it might go back to Rs 68-69," Union Finance Ministry's Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Subhas Chandra Garg said here.
On Thursday, the rupee had touched an all time low of 70.39-40 in the spot market and settled at a record closing low of 70.16 against the greenback.
Speaking on capital outflow, Garg said: "There was an outflow of $9 billion in terms of portfolio investments in the first three months of the current fiscal and last year, we had a inflow of $20 billion. But in July, there was no outflow. In August, there is positive inflow of about $1.5 billion."
"It makes it clear that the episode arising out of Turkey essentially does not alter FPIs' (Foreign Portfolio Investors) perception about the investability of India. I do not think that will change," he said on the sidelines of a Merchants' Chamber of Commerce and Industry's event.
Garg also said that public sector banks, which are under Prompt Corrective Actions (PCA) imposed by the Reserve Bank of India, would do better going forward and there would be lesser requirement for provisioning of bad loans.
"Profitability of these banks will be coming back. They are expected to come out of PCA in the next 1-2 years," he added.
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4 workers die after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad
Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.
The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.
The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.
The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.
Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.
They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.
Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.
