Mid-summer Rescue

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[<p>Forex trading desks seem to have smelt a change of fortune for the rupee. At the start of trades on Thursday, the rupee dipped to 56.40 levels. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stepped in and sold dollars. Rumours were that the central bank would supply dollars to four big state-run banks to meet the demands of oil companies — a move which would ease pressure on the rupee. It saw the rupee gain to 55.70, but it proved shortlived. <br><br>Within minutes, word got out that no such plan was on the cards. And the rupee again fell to 56.20. Dealers believe that with the month-end demand for dollars from oil companies satiated, the rupee would be range-bound at 56.20-40 levels. Thursday's fall was also triggered by poor fourth quarter GDP numbers. With both month-end dollar demand and bad numbers out of the way, the sense is sometime in mid-June the RBI will announce a slew of measures on the forex front in its policy review.<br><br><strong>Strictly Business</strong><br>Iceland's banking defaults had hurled it into a recession that continued till mid-2010. Now, its economy is estimated to grow 3 per cent in 2012. In contrast, the collective euro zone economy is said to contract 0.3 per cent.<br><br><span>(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 11-06-2012)</span></p>