Economics
India’s Troubled Rupee Pushes Gas Prices to a Record High
- Average $75 oil price may spur FY19 import bill by $30 billion
- Economy with world’s fastest growth means more demand for oil
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India’s growth monikers -- the world’s fastest-growing major economy and the fastest-growing oil user -- might make for good headlines, but when juxtaposed with the less-flattering description of its currency they pose a problem for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The rupee, Asia’s worst-performer so far this year, has fueled gasoline and diesel prices to a record high and fanned public displeasure with general elections less than eight months away. It prompted Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to say on Saturday the government will soon come up with an action plan to rein in fuel prices.