http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_INDIA_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-20-22-48-26
NEW DELHI (AP) -- Indians returning from abroad bring nearly 3,000 flat screen televisions into the country a day, turning airport luggage belts into revolving electronics displays. A stiff new customs duty aims to sink that popular trade as officials scramble to halt a dizzying plunge in the rupee.
The 36-percent TV tax is the latest in a slew of measures the government has announced to steady the currency and is a sign, critics say, of its increasing desperation. New limits were imposed on the amount of money individuals and companies can invest overseas. Higher taxes were slapped on gold imports. Interest rates on rupee deposits were raised. All to no avail.
The rupee has plumbed new lows against the dollar on a near daily basis, showing the pressure of a current account deficit that has swelled from high import costs. A dollar now buys more than 63 rupees, a decline of 8 percent for the rupee so far this August. The Sensex stock index is down more than 10 percent in the past month. Nearly half that fall was in the past few days.
The government is panicked because the slumping rupee threatens to worsen two important barometers of the nation's financial standing - its budget, already in deficit because of subsidized oil imports, and the overseas trade account, also deeply in the red.
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