Rupee down 51 against the dollar since March 31, 2009

What a volatile week it has been for the rupee. The partially convertible currency hit 51 against the dollar early on Friday, after closing at around 50.90 per dollar on Thursday.

It’s a 33-month low for the currency and the consensus is that the rupee will keep sliding for a while due to a combination of unfavourable global and local factors.

One of the most pessimistic predictions issued yesterday was by Laurence Balanco,technical analyst at CLSA. He told CNBC TV-18 the rupee could dive all the way to 58 against the dollar if it fell to the 52 mark.

While that might seem a little extreme, the fact is most experts believe the rupee’s slide is set to continue, at least in the medium term.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Indian rupee is the world’s third-worst performing currency this year, falling by nearly 14 percent , next only to the Turkish lira, which is down 17 percent and the Kenyan shilling, which has lost 15 percent. It is also Asia’s worst-performing currency, the newspaper added.