Narrowing current account deficit will help the Indian rupee appreciate against the US dollar to around 79 by the second half of the current fiscal year, according to Tanvee Gupta Jain, the chief India economist at UBS Securities. While expecting the rupee to be volatile in the short term, Jain sees the local unit gain towards 79 against the greenback by the end of FY24, thanks to a narrowing CAD and weaker dollar volatility index. The agency estimates crude prices to average $80/barrel in FY24, down from $95 a barrel in FY23.