Sundeep Bhandari, Regional Head-Global Market South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank feels that the rupee would actually be biased towards weakening. "We see rupee stand above Rs 40/USD. In the short term, there will be volatility. So it will trade between Rs 39.6/USD to Rs 40/USD plus levels."

Excerpts from CNBC-TV18’s exclusive interview with Sundeep Bhandari: 

Q: What’s the call at your bank, does StanChart expect that you would see rupee appreciation probably by design because the RBI’s control over inflation?

A: We feel that the rupee will actually weaken with the current kind of a deficit; the charts are going back, the global situation and also the equity market - so we feel the rupee will actually be biased towards weakening. So we see rupee stand above Rs 40/USD. In the short term, there will be volatility. So it will trade between Rs 39.6/USD to Rs 40/USD plus levels.

Q: What’s the expectation on the bond market front, what are you expecting from the RBI and where will you see the tenure post policy next week same time?

A: The general sense of the market and where we should abuse is quite bearish. We see the bonds pushing up to 8.25%, obviously on the back of inflation expectations being the key concerns and with the CRR going to impact us next week - that will also have an impact on the tenure.