Why Rupee Keeps Falling? | Depreciation, Foreign Flows & Market Reflexivity Explained

The Indian rupee has gone from 65 to 95 against the dollar in less than a decade — but does the number itself actually matter? In this wide-ranging conversation, former currency trader and ex-SEBI whole-time member Ananth Narayan joins Nithin Sasikumar and Pranav Agarwal to unpack what's really driving the rupee, and why the psychology around "100" might matter more than the fundamentals. They discussed: •Why currency levels are secondary to per capita income, growth, and employment •Why India's labour force participation rate and female workforce participation remain critical weak points •George Soros's concept of reflexivity — and how self-fulfilling narratives move markets •RBI's interventions and the subsidized FCNR swap •Why India's corporate debt market hasn't taken off •The FPI tax problem and why it discourages foreign inflows •The Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) and whether the rupee is actually undervalued •Lessons from being a regulator: balancing Type 1 and Type 2