(Bloomberg) -- India’s central bank will roll over some of its foreign-exchange derivative contracts as it seeks to slow the pace of the rupee’s decline, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The currency’s drop Tuesday to a record low -- the biggest among emerging Asian peers -- was due to the looming expiry of dollar-rupee futures, the person said, asking not to be identified as the discussions were private. Some other banks in India will also simultaneously roll over their positions, which may spark a rebound in the rupee on Wednesday, the person said.

The Reserve Bank of India has been intervening in the spot and futures markets on Tuesday, the person said. The rupee fell as much as 0.6% to 78.79 per dollar, with about $5.5 billion worth of futures contracts pending maturity as of 1 p.m. local time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 

 

India’s monetary authority has been intervening across markets in recent months to defend the currency. The RBI has about $590 billion of reserves and $64 billion in its forwards book as of end-April.

“We believe India’s external position remains relatively healthy, but with portfolio outflows expected to continue amid weakening global equity performance, and further deterioration in balance of payment in coming months, the risks of INR underperformance cannot be discounted,” Madhavi Arora, lead economist at Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd., wrote in a note.

A spokesman for the Reserve Bank of India wasn’t immediately available for comment. 

(Updates throughout with details.)

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