Rupee gains 8 paise to 81.80 against US dollar in afternoon trade

Mumbai: The rupee rose by 8 paise to 81.80 against the US dollar in afternoon trade on Wednesday as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget in the Lok Sabha.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.76 against the dollar, registering a rise of 12 paise over its previous close. The local unit



was later trading at 81.80 against the greenback. Sitharaman in her Budget speech said retained the country's fiscal deficit target of 6.4 pc in the Revised Estimate for FY23 and cut it to 5.9 per cent for FY24.

She said that the fiscal deficit is to be brought down to below 4.5 pc by 2025-26.