FM Arun Jaitley blames 'global factors' for fall in rupee

New Delhi, Sep 5: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that reasons behind the unprecedented fall of the rupee against the dollar were global.

"If you look at the domestic economic situation and global situation, there are not domestic reasons attributable to this, but all reasons are global," he said.

"We must bear in mind that dollar has strengthened against almost every currency. The Rupee has either consistently strengthened or remained in a range, not weakened. Most of the other currencies of the world,compared to what it was 4-5 yrs ago, Rupee is better off," he added.

The rupee declined 17 paise against the US dollar to close at 71.75 on Wednesday. That marked the sixth consecutive session with the rupee settling lower against the greenback.

The cabinet today approved doubling Jan Dhan accounts overdraft cap to Rs 10,000 from 5,000. The age for availing entitlement has also been increased to 65 years.

Jaitley also stated that around 83 per cent of accounts opened in Jan Dhan are linked with Aadhar.

A total of 32.41 lakh crore Jan Dhan accounts opened under Jan Dhan so far, said Jaitley. He also said that Rs 81,200 crore has been deposited in Jan Dhan accounts until now.

Commenting on the scheme, Arun Jaitley said around 53% account holders under Jan Dhan are women, out of which 59% accounts belong to rural and semi-urban areas.