New Delhi: The rupee, which in the recent months have been consistently declining, closed at a five month low of 96.7 against dollar on Wednesday (October 7), reported The Hindu Businessline.The latest record fall of the rupee came after the Reserve Bank of India hiked the repo rate – the interest rate at which borrowers can secure short-term credit from RBI – on Wednesday, for the first time since 2023.Earlier, the rupee opened at 96.4 against the dollar and weakened to 96.8 after RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra indicated that easing was no longer under consideration amid a higher inflation outlook. Later it recovered slightly and closed at 96.7 at the end of the trading session.The rupee was around 85 against dollar on January 1, 2025.“The market may be looking for stronger liquidity tightening or direct FX intervention rather than just a rate hike. Hence, the RBI move is structurally positive for the rupee but insufficient to reverse the immediate depreciation pressure. The near-term direction will depend more on RBI intervention, crude oil prices and capital flows, with 97 emerging as an important psychological level,” Kunal Sodhani, head of treasury at Shinhan Bank, told The Hindu Businessline.The rupee is Asia’s worst-performing currency and had been on a consistent downward spiral. Experts have warned that the rupee could further weaken to 100 per US dollar or beyond.