Indian rupee hits all-time low of 70 per dollar

The Indian rupee recorded a lifetime low during early trade on Thursday as it hit 70.28 against the US dollar.

On Tuesday the rupee closed at 69.89 per dollar.

At 9:15 am (local time), the rupee was trading at 70.27 a dollar, down 0.53 per cent, from its Tuesday's close of 69.89.

“The home currency opened at 70.25 and touched an all time low of 70.28 a dollar," a market analyst said.

On Wednesday, markets in India were closed in wake of public holiday on account of Independence Day celebrations, reports Xinhua.

The slump in rupee was triggered by the fall in Turkish lira, which helped the US dollar to gain.

The fall in rupee will make imports of crude oil, fertilizers, medicines and iron ore costlier.

"The weakening of rupee will certainly result in increase in price rise of the commodities directly as well as indirectly and thereby would end up inflating household expenditures," Anil Sharma, a market expert said.

The free fall in rupee has triggered a debate between Indian ruling Bhartiya Janta Party and opposition Congress party.

While the BJP attributes it to the hostile external factors, Congress party blames Modi government's wrong economic policies for the depreciation of the currency.