MUMBAI – The Indian rupee hit a record low of 70 to the dollar on Tuesdayas emerging market currencies are sold off by investors spooked by theTurkish financial crisis.

The under-pressure rupee touched 70.09 briefly during mid-morning trade asfears grow that the plight of Turkey s lira will spread to other emergingcountries.

South Africa, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Russia have all seen theircurrencies slip over the past week because, like Turkey, they remainheavily dependent on foreign capital, especially the dollar.

The rupee has been on a downward spiral throughout 2018 after starting theyear at 63.67.

India is a massive net importer of oil, securing more than two-thirds ofits needs from abroad.

Brent Crude was up 20 cents at $72.81 per barrel on Tuesday, well aboveprices of around $50 at the same time last year.

Analysts say the high crude costs are squeezing the Indian currency, makingit less appealing to traders.

“Investors are concerned that the rupee has crossed the 70 benchmarktoday,” N. S. Venkatesh, chief executive of the Association of Mutual Fundsin India, told AFP.

But he added that he expected the currency to stabilise at around 69,describing India s economy as “strong”.

“The Reserve Bank of India s monetary policy has shown concern for therupee s fluctuations so investors should not be worried by knee-jerkreactions in the forex market,” Venkatesh said.

India s central bank has raised interest rates twice this year, in part tohelp increase the value of the rupee.

Its fall is leading to a widening of India s current account deficit, whenthe value of imports exceeds the value of exports, experts say.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund predicted that the deficit wouldexpand to 2.6 percent for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. – APP/AFP