The Dollar Slide

One wonders whether it was an admission, a revelation or a confession when the PM disclosed the other day that the govt. had to put in a Herculean effort to thwart the downward slide of the dollar in December 2013 and stop it at Rs. 98 from its peak value of Rs. 111 as it could go down further to Rs. 50 and 60.  He said that it was done to protect the interest of the exporters who would have suffered a great loss. What, Mr. Prime Minister, to protect the interest of the exporters?!  How many exporters are there anyway, a couple of thousands only ?  And how about the interest of the 18 crore awaam who would have stood to gain immensely?  All imports would have been at lower prices giving a big boost to the national economy. Just to cite only one example. The fuel prices would have come down to half of what they were. And everything in the country would have consequently become cheaper.  The furnace oil for the Rental Power Plants would have been avai! lable at half the price thus producing cheaper electricity.  There would been very little or no load shedding if the power plants produced power to their full capacity.  It would have not only run the larger industrial units without any breakdowns  but also provided power for the millions of smaller businesses run by the electricity.  It is really strange that just to protect the interest of not even point one percent exporters the entire nation was made the sacrificial lamb for them!  Strange very strange indeed especially for those who claim to be doing everything to ameliorate the lot of the common man.

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)