“Our party was and is in favour of strong rupee,” says FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

• Government remains committed to a strong rupee, says FM Sitharaman
• Budget 2026 allows NRIs higher equity investment via Portfolio Investment Scheme
• RBI expected to keep rates steady at upcoming monetary policy meeting

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The government ‘was in favor of and is still in favor of always a strong rupee’ and is not indifferent to the rupee-dollar exchange rate, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her first post-budget interview with Network18 Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi.

“Our party was in favor of and is still in favor of always a strong rupee. But it is also what we predicated in the context of  how the economy is. The economy is suffering from high inflation, economy being fragile, and the rupee value also not in a good position, makes it really hard and difficult for everybody. But one thing I can clearly say is that the economy is final fit,” the minister said.

Sitharaman added that the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals remain strong and the banks are closely monitoring the situation.

“Your macroeconomic fundamentals are strong. And that's not to say you being indifferent to rupee dollar exchange rate. I'm not indifferent. But I will also look at it from the realistic challenges that we have, to understand where the rupee is finding itself now,” Sitharaman said.

The Indian rupee opened  higher on February 2, a day after the Union Budget 2026 was presented, as investor sentiment turned positive, with announcements pertaining to foreign institutional and portfolio investors.

The finance minister in her Budget 2026 announced that individuals living out of India can now invest in equities through the Portfolio Investment Scheme, with higher caps in place. This could enable foreign investors to allocate more of their portfolios to Indian companies, and further enhance foreign portfolio investors (FPI) inflows, which have moderated in the recent months.

On the other hand, the US dollar strengthened on Friday, after President Donald Trump announced the appointment of new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, who has been perceived as more hawkish by market participants.

With the budget out of the way, market participants will now look forward to the monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting on Friday, where it is expected that the RBI will keep rates steady, according to a previous Moneycontrol poll.