Rupee to nosedive to 84.50 against dollar by this year end?

The Indian rupee will fall further against the U.S. dollar over the rest of the year, a Reuters poll showed, setting up the currency for its steepest annual decline in at least nine years due to a widening domestic trade balance and surging U.S. interest rates.

The rupee slipped to a record low of 83.2 on Thursday. It is likely to fall further to 84.50 by December, according to the mean and median forecasts of a poll of 14 bankers and foreign exchange advisors.

The South Asian currency has already tumbled about 12% so far this year, equalling its drop over the whole of 2013, when the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to slow bond purchases prompted a broad selloff in emerging market currencies.

The Fed's hikes have led to a near 18% jump in the dollar index this year and has prompted investor to pull out capital from emerging market assets.