Indian Rupee

The Indian Rupee is the original official currency of India. The English translation of "Rupee" is "silver," and the name exists because it was previously a silver coin. This very fact had severe consequences in the 19th century, when the strongest economies in the world were on the gold standard. The discovery of vast quantities of silver in the U.S. and various European colonies resulted in a decline in the relative value of silver to gold. Suddenly, the standard currency of India could not buy as much from the outside world. Such circumstances led to what is now referred to as "the fall of the Rupee."

During the period 1950-1951 until mid-December 1973, India followed an exchange rate regime with the Rupee linked to the Pound Sterling, except for the devaluations in 1966 and 1971. When the Pound Sterling floated on June 23, 1972, the Rupee's link to the British unit was maintained-thus, paralleling the Pound's depreciation and de facto devaluation.

In 1975, the Rupee's ties to the Pound Sterling were disengaged. India established a float exchange regime, with the Rupee's effective rate placed on a controlled, floating basis and linked to a "basket of currencies" of India's major trading partners. More recently, the Indian Rupee has been depreciating in step formation, but roughly in line with the fall in its Purchasing Power Parity since the early 1980s. While the PPP was 15 around 1982, the actual exchange rate was 9.30 per US dollar. After the devaluation, the Rupee underwent the change from a controlled regime to a "Managed" or "Dirty" float regime, where the market supposedly determines the exchange rate. In mid 2005, the actual rate was near 43.60