India does not need an IMF credit line: World Bank Economist

Kaushik Basu

(Reuters) - India does not need to seek a line of credit from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help fix the economy, World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu said in New Delhi on Monday, on the same day the rupee fell to another record low.

"I don't think that we are in a situation where there is any need for that," Basu told reporters after giving a lecture in the Indian capital, when asked whether India should ask the IMF for money. "India has enough foreign exchange reserves, so the question of having to turn to the IMF is not there."

The rupee fell despite a series of measures unveiled last week to try to stall its decline. The rupee has been the worst performer in Asia since late May, when the U.S. Federal Reserve first signaled that it may begin tapering its monetary stimulus this year, sparking an exodus of cheap money from emerging markets worldwide.