The Indian rupee, which struck a 46-month closing high against the dollar on Friday, was fairly stable compared with other freely-floating international currencies, central bank Governor Y.V.Reddy said on Friday.
But Reddy added that the rupee's movements were also being influenced by local demand and supply factors. "The currency market, internationally, has been volatile," Reddy told reporters on the sideline of a function at the central bank's headquarters in Bombay.
"If you see the type of movement in currencies which are not fixed and compare them with the rupee, you will see that the rupee is relatively stable," he said.
The rupee finished Friday at 44.4700/4800 per dollar, a gain of 0.6 percent in the session, from Thursday's 44.7400/7450.
The rupee, which has now appreciated by more than 2.5 percent in 2004, last closed higher at 44.3700/3800 on May 26, 2000. It has rallied nearly 1.5 percent against the dollar this week after it rose a mere 0.8 percent in the 11 weeks to March 18.
The rupee rose 5.2 percent in 2003 on the back of healthy export receipts and strong foreign capital inflows.