NEW DELHI- The Reserve Bank of India and the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India are closely monitoring developments in financial markets and are ready to take appropriate steps if needed, a central bank statement said on Sunday.

The statement comes after the Indian stocks, forex and bonds market turned volatile on Friday on worries over weak balance sheets of India’s non-banking finance companies. The rupee , Asia’s worst performing currency this year against the U.S. dollar, has lost about 12 percent of its value against the U.S. currency so far, hitting successive lows in the past few weeks amid a widening current account deficit and a selloff in emerging markets.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar Editing by Edmund Blair) ((manoj.kumar@thomsonreuters.com; +91 11 4954 8029; Reuters Messaging: manoj.kumar.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))