India’s rupee strengthened, snapping a four-day decline, on speculation exporters will sell dollars, taking advantage of the currency’s drop to near the lowest level in almost eight weeks. The Reserve Bank of India will lift the repurchase auction rate today, at which it lends to banks, to 6.50 percent from 6.25 percent, according to 21 of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The remaining economist forecast a 50-basis point increase. The widening gap in interest rates with developed economies may help attract capital, said Vikas Babu, a currency trader at state-owned Andhra Bank in Mumbai. “Exporters will be more than comfortable to sell at these levels because the broad outlook for the economy is still positive,” Babu said. The rupee advanced 0.4 percent to 45.48 per dollar as of 11:05 a.m. in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It closed at 45.685 yesterday, near the 45.90 reached on Jan. 21. That was the weakest level since Dec. 1, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. To contact the reporter on this story: V. Ramakrishnan in Mumbai at rvenkatarama@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net

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