Rupee experienced the third consecutive day of depreciation as the US dollar gained 88 paisas in interbank trading and closed the session at Rs160.61.

But things were even worse in the open market for the local currency where the dollar exchange rate reached Rs161 after an increase of 80 paisas.

It means the latest surge has propelled the dollar value by Rs2.45 paisas in the interbank exchange rate during the last three sessions after months of a strong showing by the rupee.

Meanwhile, this trend has serious consequences for the country as the external debt increased by Rs245 billion in just three days.

As far as the other major currencies are concerned, the euro was up by 20 paisas in interbank and by 50 paisas in open market trading with its value reaching Rs190.10 and Rs190.50 respectively.

However, the pound sterling had a mixed day with the interbank exchange rate going up by Rs1 in the open market to the level of Rs213 and the interbank price reduced to Rs212.14 with a cut of 19 paisas.