The exchange-rate direction matters
An exchange rate gives the price of one currency in another. If a dollar moves from ₹80 to ₹84, more rupees are needed to buy that dollar, so the rupee has weakened against it. A $100 purchase then costs ₹8,400 instead of ₹8,000 before any conversion fees or other charges.
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Read the units before the number
A quote of ₹80 per dollar means one dollar costs 80 rupees. If the quote rises to ₹84 per dollar, the dollar has become more expensive in rupee terms.
For a $100 payment, the rupee cost rises from ₹8,000 to ₹8,400. Someone receiving $100 would instead obtain more rupees at the new rate, before fees.
The percentage change depends on the direction being measured.
- The dollar's rupee price rose by 5%.
- The rupee's dollar value fell by approximately 4.76%.
Those percentages differ because the rates are reciprocals. Currency movements always describe a relationship between two currencies, so saying a currency went up is incomplete without identifying the other currency and the quotation used.