Markets unconvinced as Modi seeks to shore up rupee

India is to implement a suite of measures in a bid to protect the rupee, which hit a record low against the dollar last week.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held emergency meetings over the weekend to discuss the currency’s alarming slide, which is being driven by a growing deficit, rising oil prices and the knock-on effects from currency crises elsewhere in the global economy, notably Turkey.

India’s manufacturing sector will see an easing of the rules for external commercial borrowings (ECBs)—or foreign-currency loans raised from overseas lenders— in an attempt to improve the dollar inflow into the economy, Quartz India reports, while the rules have also been relaxed for masala bonds – financial instruments used by Indian firms to raise overseas debt in rupees, rather than in foreign currency.

The government is also said to be considering reducing non-essential imports.

The news of interventions did little to calm markets, with the rupee sliding again this week, the Financial Times reports. Investors are said to be disappointed by the lack of information from the RBI, while there are fears that the measures could shift India towards more protectionist trade policies.

Analysts are now predicting that interest rates will need to rise to make any real impact, Reuters reports.