Rupee tracking closer to its fair value, say experts
Kolkata, Sep 15 : The Indian rupee is "tracking closer to its fair value" and the scope for further rapid depreciation appears unlikely, though the time is appropriate for policy interventions to anchor negative sentiments, experts said on Saturday.
"Currently, the rupee is tracking closer to its fair value as per our fair value computation. From here on, the scope for rapid depreciation appears unlikely," Yes Bank's Group President and Chief Economist Shubhada Rao said.
The Indian rupee on Friday closed at 71.85, recovering 34 paise from its previous close of 72.19 per greenback.
She, however, said policy interventions are required to anchor the "negative sentiments".
"The government and Reserve Bank can make policy interventions now. If it does not, the expectations get un-anchored. It is very important to anchor the expectations and time is appropriate to do it," she said on the sidelines of an event organised by the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
According to her, there could be short term measures to contain the trade imbalance. In order to stop further depreciation of the rupee and widening of current account deficit (CAD), the government on Friday took some measures and a broad policy decision to curb non-essential imports and increase exports.
International Monetary fund (IMF) Senior Resident Representative for India, Nepal, Bhutan, Andreas W. Bauer, said as per their assessment, the real exchange rate level is "broadly in line with the fundamentals".
Citing a study prepared by the lender, Rao said the recent phase of relative depreciation has reduced the misalignment of the Indian rupee from fair value based on real effective exchange rate (REER) rebased to FY12.
Estimated overvaluation is likely to have reduced to 3.7 per cent in August from 9.9 per cent in the corresponding month last year, she said.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
