Money, whether it is in any currency, is probably the most desired commodity which regardless of class, age or ethnicity is loved by every person. In our society, money is the basic need to regulate our lives as it is the symbol of our economy. It has also bifurcated classes within our society. It sets our way of life and passes through the hands of each one of us. We love it at all levels but as a nation, we could not protect its value. It is something that determines the strength of our economy as it has tremendous effects on our society. It also has the ability to corrupt people when it is in the hands of mafias.
There is a popular phrase of
‘installing the wheels to the file’ as a businessman adds wheels of rupees to
his files to move fast and in his favour. A poor man earns and uses it to feed
his family every day, a middle-class man works day and night to provide a good
lifestyle to his family and also tries to save some for later use while the
corrupt mafia which includes businessmen and politicians violate the process of
rupees by containing it in a few hands. The rupee had strength but its value is
decreasing by the day and it is depleting with every passing day.
When I joined the civil service in
1974, one dollar was equivalent to Rs3 only while now it has touched the skies
as it is equal to Rs167 and see how inflation has hit us in the last four
decades. It is a sad affair that our governments could not protect this most
precious commodity. I had started to feel and assess in 2014 that we are not
properly handling our most treasured item and the government, the foreign
exchange mafia, and some bank syndicates and individuals mint their money by
depleting rupees with different artificial and corrupt techniques. I had also
given successive statements on the ever-rising value of the dollar and
depletion of the rupee, as in 2018 one dollar was Rs121, in 2019 it was Rs150,
in 2020 it reached Rs166 and is now Rs168.5 against one US dollar.
In my articles, I had predicted the
sharp decline of the Pakistani rupee with reasons as to why the rupee depleted
in the past as I was noticing the continued fall of the growth rate, falling
export figures, increase in the import figures, high in flexing figures
including the pressure of the IMF, the World Bank, and other donors to devalue
rupee as a condition to have further borrowing to be allowed to Pakistan.
This period from 2018 onwards has
drastically devalued the rupee against the dollar to the level of 168 which was
highly unimaginable. There are certainly alien factors damaging the
sustainability of the rupee but there are certainly other factors within our
country where very strong syndicates and mafias play with the interest of the
nation by using a well-organised criminal underhand methodology to reduce the
value of the rupee by using certain technical techniques which were explained
in my article ‘Plight of Pakistani Rupee’ published in the same newspaper on
December 17, 2018, in which I had mentioned about the consecutive three-time
steep decline in the value of the rupee ever since the new government took
over. The slide of the Rupee overnight shook the people and they were shocked
to hear that even the Prime Minister, the President, and the Finance Minister
were claiming that they were not aware of this decline.
The rupee will further deplete
above 170 against 1 US dollar; the nation needs to know about this unchecked
downward slide which can create multiple complications not only for the overall
economy of the country but it will affect our institutions and the common man
badly. Traders may like to see the currency strength in South Asia, even the Bangladesh
Taka is better than us.
Pakistan needs to work out a way
forward for the retirement of its foreign debt. It must enhance the growth rate
by using all available resources, and pump funds in the agriculture sector to
enhance the yield. It must also try to have an agreement with China to purchase
half of the debt with a 20-year relief in the interest rate and payments. A
full review should be undertaken into state investments, the issuance of
various bonds, available properties, and loss of the exchequer due to unwise
actions and bad investments. Imports should cut drastically and boost exports
as the country cannot stay only on the foreign remittance by overseas
Pakistanis. We must bring in legislation for the protection of foreign
investment and special incentives and protection to the overseas Pakistanis.
I am sorry for placing this bad
picture of the rupee and the economy but I think some drastic steps are
required to halt the depletion of the rupee.
Most importantly, the fragile
economy of Pakistan will get some more burden due to the newly formed setup in
Afghanistan. There is a likelihood of a drain in our resources to Afghanistan
and the rupee is likely to go under more pressure. In my article ‘A strong
emerging bloc’ dated August 1, 2021, I had suggested the economic bloc of
China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. It is a good omen that the new leadership of
Afghanistan has shown an interest to be part of CPEC. Our priority should be to
enhance our economy which is the future of our country. I hope Mr. Shaukat Tarin
will try to work on some out-of-the-box solutions to put the country back to
track.
The Article was published in The Nation on September 05, 2021, link to the original article is https://nation.com.pk/05-Sep-2021/stop-the-fall-of-the-rupee
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