Prime Minister: Manmohan Singh
The gold airlift, liberalisation, and a floating rupee.
Rupee per dollar
₹58.51
+9.6% on 2012
Inflation
10.02%
+0.54 pts on 2012
GDP growth
6.39%
+0.93 pts on 2012
Reserves
$298,092m
−0.8% on 2012
External debt
$427,245m
+8.8% on 2012
Brent crude
$108.56
−2.7% on 2012
FX / bonds · 22 May 2013
INR record low ~68.85 per USD (2013-08-28, intraday); 10y G-sec above 9%
RBI raised MSF to 10.25% (2013-07-15); FCNR(B) swap window raised ~US$34 bn (Sep–Nov 2013, Gov. Rajan)
ReportedOfficial record. Source: RBI press releases 2013; RBI Annual Report 2013-14
FX / NRI deposits · 4 September 2013
USD 34 bn raised
the swaps matured Sep–Nov 2016
VerifiedOfficial record. Source: SPJIMR; MoF Status Report 2013-14
USD/INR · 28 August 2013
68.85 (68.83 per ORF)
FII debt outflows ~Rs 55,000 cr Jun–Aug 2013
ReportedPress. Source: Business Standard/PTI snippet; ORF (orfonline.org)
FII flows; INR · 22 May 2013
June 2013: net FII outflow USD 7.2 bn, of which USD 5.4 bn from debt. June–July: USD 10.5 bn, of which >USD 7.7 bn from debt.
The rupee lost about 27% of its value between June and August, per Al Jazeera's wording (a peak-to-trough intraday measure; about 20% from the late-May level).
ReportedPress. Source: Business Standard 2013-07-02 and 2013-08-04 (SEBI / NSDL data)
Money market; gold · 14 July 2013
MSF rate reset at repo + 300 bp = 10.25%; the "80:20" gold rule; gold-coin imports banned
The first set of taper-tantrum defences, under Subbarao. Bank stocks fell.
ReportedPress. Source: Monash IMPACT; Business Standard 2013-07-16
USD/INR · 28 August 2013
Intraday 68.85; close 68.80/81 (from 66.24/25); −3.7% in a day, the biggest daily fall since 1995-10
The same day the RBI opened a forex swap window for IOC, HPCL and BPCL to cover their ≈USD 8.5 bn a month of crude-import dollar demand.
ReportedPress. Source: Business Standard / Reuters 2013-08-28; Al Jazeera 2013-08-28; Business Standard / PTI 2013-08-28 (OMC window)
INR; reserves · 4 September 2013
≈USD 34 bn raised by 2013-11-30 (26 bn FCNR(B), 8 bn bank borrowing)
The rupee recovered to ≈62 by mid-2013-09 (not re-verified). The Japan swap line was enlarged to USD 50 bn on 2013-09-06. Reserves reached USD 304.2 bn by end-March 2014.
ReportedPeer-reviewed. Source: SPJIMR; PIB relid=102007; Business Standard 2014-03
Gold import-duty hikes
The aim was to cut the current-account deficit during the taper tantrum.
ReportedPress. Source: TaxTMI (Customs notification summary); ThePrint "India gold duty changed 8 times in 14 years"
RBI "80:20" gold import rule
Imports of gold coins and medallions were banned, and 20% of every gold import lot had to be re-exported before the next lot. Scrapped in 2014-11 (Business Standard, 2014-12, "when the govt prevailed over RBI").
ReportedPress. Source: Business Standard 2014-12-18; Monash IMPACT "How Indonesia and India navigated the 2013 Taper Tantrum"
WTO Bali Ministerial (MC9): peace clause on public stockholding
Adopted 2013-12-07. India's price-support procurement for food security (backing the National Food Security Act 2013) was protected from WTO dispute challenge even if it breached the Agreement on Agriculture's de minimis subsidy limits. The protection was interim, with a permanent solution due by MC11 (2017). India accepted the Trade Facilitation Agreement in return.
ReportedOfficial record. Source: PIB "India's Stand at WTO on Food Security" (relid=121243); EPW 48(49) 2013; CRS R43592
India–China LAC (Ladakh)
A PLA platoon camped 30 km south of Daulat Beg Oldi for about three weeks and withdrew before Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's 2013-05 visit to India. No measurable market effect found.
ReportedHeterodox institution. Source: Wikipedia "2013 Depsang standoff"; ORF
unregulated deposit (Ponzi / chit fund)
1.7 mn depositors in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and the North-East. Politicians linked to the TMC were named. Chairman Sudipta Sen was in custody for about a decade and was granted bail by the Supreme Court in 2026-08. The collection figures disagree by an order of magnitude, so both are kept.
ReportedPress. Source: Wikipedia "Saradha Group financial scandal"; Gulf News; SCC Online 2026-08-20
commodity spot exchange (paired contracts)
About 13,000 investors were left unpaid. The exchange had neither the stock nor the cash. FTIL founder Jignesh Shah was arrested in 2014-05 and again by the ED in 2016-07. FMC was merged into SEBI in 2015.
ReportedPress. Source: Business Standard 2013-12-25 ("NSEL scam derailed commodity market"); ANI; Tribune (Kotian arrest)
| Creditor | Instrument | Amount | US$ m | Status | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign portfolio investors (aggregate) | FII debt outflows during the taper tantrum: Jun Rs 33,135 cr, Jul ~12,000 cr, Aug 9,773 cr; calendar 2013 Rs 50,989 cr | 9,000 | outflow | estimated | |
| NRIs via Indian banks | FCNR(B) swap window, 2013-09-04 to 11-30 (RBI swap at 3.5%), plus ~8 bn through the banks' overseas-borrowing window = 34 bn in total | 26,000 USD | 26,000 | matured Sep–Nov 2016 | verified |
| ECB lenders (aggregate) | ECB approvals, FY2013-14 (33,218 in the 2013-14 report; revised to 30,563) | 30,563 USD | 30,563 | flow | verified |
| Bank of Japan | Bilateral swap arrangement, enlarged from 15 to 50 | 50 USD bn | 50,000 | Contingent. Not found drawn. Enlarged to USD 75 bn in 2018-10, outside the decade. | verified |
| All external creditors (aggregate stock) | Total external debt, end-March 2013 | 409.4 USD bn | 409,400 | Stock | estimated |
| NRIs and foreign banks (not individually named), via Indian banks | FCNR(B) swap window: fresh 3-year+ FCNR(B) deposits, swapped with RBI at a concessional 3.5% a year | 26 USD bn | 26,000 | Window open 2013-09-04 to 2013-11-30 (announced with Rajan's first statement). The deposits matured and were repaid in 2016-09 to 11; the RBI met them from its forward book (redemption amount ?). Rajan later called it the "least bad option". | reported |
| Overseas head offices and correspondent banks of Indian banks | Bank overseas-borrowing swap window (FC borrowings swapped with RBI at 1% below market) | 8 USD bn | 8,000 | Closed 2013-11-30. The two windows together raised ≈USD 34 bn. | reported |
| International bond investors (would-be) | Overseas sovereign (foreign-currency) bond: debated, NOT issued | Not issued. It returned as a USD 10 bn proposal in the 2019-07-05 Budget, outside this decade; its later fate is not covered here. | reported |
Rows are listed as recorded. Some describe the same loan from different sources and must not be added together.
