NEW DELHI, April 4: The Indian rupee surged to a near eight-year high against the dollar on Wednesday as commercial banks sold the US currency to generate cash to meet new higher deposit requirements.

The Indian currency broke through the 43-rupee mark to end the day at 42.90 rupees against the dollar, firming from 43.10 rupees the previous day.

Earlier it hit an intraday peak of 42.84 rupees to the dollar, its highest level since June 1999.

The latest rise follows a move by India's central bank to tighten monetary policy again last Friday in a bid to combat inflation in Asia's fourth largest economy which is growing by around nine per cent.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has been in a tightening policy mode since late 2004, lifted its main short-term lending rate by 25 basis points to 7.75 per cent.—AFP