India's rupee strengthens to 94.71 per dollar, its strongest since early September
The rupee strengthened to 94.71 per US dollar on Oct 21 from 96.77 on Oct 8, based on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reference rate. That is its strongest level since early September and follows RBI support measures.
A data update from FactIQ, written from Reserve Bank of India figures. What is FactIQ?
Key figures
- Rupee reference rate against the US dollar, Oct 21
- 94.71versus 96.77 on Oct 8; strongest since early September2026-08-122026-10-22Daily exchange rate of the Indian Rupee against the United States Dollar
- Weighted average call money borrowing rate, Oct 12–13
- 5.33–5.41%up from about 5.1% in late September2026-08-102026-10-13Daily Weighted Average Interest Rate for Borrowing in the Call-Notice Money Market
- Lowest traded yield on central government bonds maturing in 2035-36, week to Oct 9
- 7.05%up from 6.70% in late August2026-04-032026-10-09Minimum Yield to Maturity for Secondary Market Outright Transactions of Central Government Dated Securities Maturing in 2035-36
- Total outstanding small savings, March 2026
- ₹23,171.84bn2022-04-302026-03-31Total outstanding amount of small savings in the Central Government Finance of India
The rupee's biggest gains came right after the RBI's support package
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reference rate is the daily rupee-dollar rate the central bank publishes. A lower number means a stronger rupee. The rupee gained about 2.1% in two weeks. The largest moves came on Oct 12, when the rate went from 96.61 to 95.75, and on Oct 13, when it reached 95.25. Both moves came right after the RBI announced a special dollar window for oil companies and other support measures.Short-term borrowing costs rose after the rate hike
The weighted average call money borrowing rate is the average rate banks pay to borrow very short-term funds from each other. It was 5.33–5.41% on Oct 12–13, up from about 5.1% in late September. The rise followed the RBI's rate hike.Longer-term bond yields rose while RBI bond buying stayed near zero
In the week to Oct 9, central government bonds maturing in 2035-36 traded at yields between 7.05% and 7.65%. A yield is the annual return an investor earns on a bond. The low end of that range was up from 6.70% in late August. The RBI's bond purchases through open market operations, where the central bank buys government bonds from the market, were ₹0.1bn (billion rupees) in the week to Oct 2 and zero in the week to Oct 9.Small savings kept growing, but holders cashed in M.S. Certificates
Small savings are savings schemes run by India's central government. Receipts in the fiscal year 2025-26 (FY2025-26) were ₹2,674.82bn (billion rupees). March 2026 alone brought in ₹595.36bn. The total amount outstanding reached ₹23,171.84bn in March 2026. M.S. Certificates went the other way. Their receipts were -₹149.99bn in FY2025-26, and the amount outstanding fell from ₹282.12bn to ₹132.12bn. Monthly receipts for these certificates have been negative every month since April 2025. This suggests people are cashing them in.Source: Reserve Bank of India. See all RBI data in FactIQ.
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