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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Economy & business fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about economy & business. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

7,106 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYEconomy & business

In 1917, one rupee was equal to $13 USD whereas in 2014 $1 USD was equal to Rs. 63.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim says that one rupee was worth US$13 in 1917, while US$1 was worth Rs. 63 in 2014. FACTLY’s review compares the claim with exchange-rate information it attributes to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and explains that the 1917 comparison must be understood in the context of British rule, when foreign exchange was conducted in pounds rather than directly in dollars. According to the review, the RBI recorded the rupee as fixed at 1 shilling 4 pence in 1917, equivalent to 0.066 pounds. Converting that amount using the pound–dollar exchange rate prevailing at the time, FACTLY reports, gives approximately US$0.314 per rupee—or about Rs. 3.33 per US dollar. That evidence contradicts the claimed US$13 per rupee. For 2014, the review gives an RBI rate of Rs. 63.3315 per US dollar at year-end, but an annual average of Rs. 61.0295. Thus, the claim’s 2014 figure is close to the reported year-end rate, but it does not make the 1917 comparison accurate.