“Under gold medalist Havard economist 1 Dollar – Rs 39(2008) 1 Dollar – Rs 68 (2014) Under Chaiwala 1 Dollar – Rs 68(2014) 1 Dollar – Rs 69(2018) What this all Ranty-Rona all about?” This message which is viral on social media makes a comparison between the exchange rate of United States Dollar(USD) to Indian Rupee(INR) during the term of “gold medalist Havard economist” (Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh) and “Chaiwala” (Prime Minister Narendra Modi).

The viral message questions the public rage(#RupeeAllTimeLow) against the rupee’s lifetime record fall against the dollar by suggesting that the Rupee vs Dollar equation deteriorated much more during UPA-II than the present regime and that the rupee-dollar exchange rate slipped by only one rupee in the period 2014-2018. The Indian currency had slipped to an all-time low, pegged at Rs.69.0925 to the dollar on June 28, 2018.

The message was posted by a Twitter user called Squint Neon(@squintneon) on June 28, 2018 and got retweeted over 1000 times.

Under gold medalist Havard economist 1 Dollar – Rs 39(2008)

1 Dollar – Rs 68 (2014) Under Chaiwala 1 Dollar – Rs 68(2014)

1 Dollar – Rs 69(2018) What this all Ranty-Rona all about? — Squint Neon (@squintneon) June 28, 2018

Moreover, the claim has also been shared on Facebook and Twitter.

What is the truth?

The above post tries to suggest that the value of INR against USD when Dr. Manmohan Singh demitted office and Narendra Modi assumed office was 68. According to a website www.exchange-rates.org, the value of rupee against US dollar on May 17, 2014, the day Dr. Singh demitted the office of Prime Minister was 58.57. In the period Jan 1, 2014 to May 16, 2014, the INR-USD exchange rate was highest on Jan 27, 2014 at 1 USD = 63.10 INR.

While the exchange rate of USD to INR on May 26, 2014, the day Narendra Modi was sworn as the Prime Minister of India, was 58.66.

However, the historical data on exchange rates of USD to INR from the Wall Street Journal shows that the value of rupee did fall to a low of 68.8 on Aug 28, 2013. The red arrow on the graph posted below delineates the point of fall.

UPA 2 (May 22, 2014-May 26, 2014)

NDA Regime (May 26, 2014-present)

In the graph below, the first arrow points at the previous record low at Rs 68.86 per dollar on November 24, 2016, which was reported in an article published by NDTV Profit, while the second arrow points to the all-time low on June 28, 2018.

Thus, the claim that the value of INR against USD has depreciated by just 1 from INR 68 to INR 69 in the period 2014-2018 stands patently false as the value of INR to USD when Prime Minister Narendra assumed office was Rs 58.66 while the present value is in excess of 68.

The fluctuations in the exchange rate of the rupee to the dollar have been invoked on numerous occasions by political parties across the board to target the opposition, often resorting to selectivity with regard to data to bolster their claims. This latest assertion is no exception to this tendency and seeks to mislead citizens.

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