Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has mentioned that the rupee has not weakened but it is the dollar that has strengthened, as she defended the 8 percent fall in the value of Indian currency against the US Dollar this year.

After attending the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington, she told reporters that the Indian economy was strong and that inflation was low compared to other parts of the world.

In response to a question about the weakening rupee, she said, "First of all, I would  not look at it as the rupee going down. I would look at it as the dollar getting stronger and stronger." She said that when the dollar goes up, all other currencies around the world do well. "I am not going to get into the details, but it's a fact that India's rupee has probably survived this dollar rate going up. The exchange rate is in favour of the dollar getting stronger, and I think the Indian rupee has done much better than many other currencies in emerging markets."

In the meantime, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said again that India's inflation rate, which is currently over 7 percent, is "manageable" compared to what it is in some other countries. But because she knew there would be critics, she added that the government is working to get it below 6 percent and would like to get it below 6 percent and "ideally" to 4 percent. Sitharaman was also happy to say that the basic parts of the Indian economy were doing well right now. "I'm not asking for a party, but it is true that we are holding together," she said.

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