State Bank of India (SBI) today increased its rate of interest on fixed deposits for Non-resident Indians ( NRIs) by 0.25 per cent. Term deposits between three and five years in rupee term would grab nine per cent compared to existing 8.75 per cent, SBI stated in a statement.

Students overseas and their parents in India find it hard to budget for their expenditures because rupee sounds like being in a free-fall zone vis-a-vis the US dollar.

Indian students wanting to study in the United States or those currently studying there are not sure of what they ought to be prepared for. While some estimated the declining rupee value as a primary reason for abandoning intends to study in the US, some who had plans to finance their studies on their own are now checking out loan options.  Those people studying there are concered about searching for a part-time job to survive.

Rashmi Saha from Pune has stopped thinking about her dream degree from a US university after getting a visa. While she points out three important causes for cancelling her plans, the falling rupee rate figures at the pinnacle. “The college I got admission to is not very popular. It will be hard for me to search for a job there after my programme is finished or even throughout the course of my studies. The dollar has grown so expensive, that it’s going to be difficult for me to manage myself there. So I have dropped plans for the time-being ,” said Saha.

A resident of Koparkhairne, Swaroop Narayanan, who is aiming to study MS in electrical engineering from a US university, now plans to seek out a loan for his studies. “My family planned to finance the first year of my education in the US. However, now with the decreasing rate of the rupee, I prefer to approach a bank for an education loan. Even daily living expenditures will go up. My parents are employed in the service sector. Initially we agreed on them financing the first year, but now we don’t know how much it’s going to come to by the time I start with the course. So we might think about the loan option,” said Narayanan. “Since the rupee value is decreasing every day, we do not know exactly where we are going to,” he added.

Parents of another student from Ghatkopar, Bhavin Shah, had plans to keep Rs 5 lakh in store for additional costs the family may incur due to the falling value of the rupee.  However, when they started making an application for a course in July, the fees and living expenses were springing up to Rs 19 lakh. Five months later, their expenses have gone up to Rs 22 lakh. “We do not know where it’s going to stop. The Rs 5 lakh we kept for variations may be used up if the rupee falls to Rs 55 vis-a-vis the dollar. We are expecting it to reach that level by the monthend ,” said Shah.