Tag Archives: pakistan economy

Bijli, Pani aur Dollars, NOT, Roti, Kapra aur Makan?

Posted on by

Bijli, Pani aur Dollars, NOT, Roti, Kapra aur Makan?.

Rupee all set to hit Century.

Posted on by

As we come to the close of 2012, the Pak Rupee is hovering close to the 100 mark in the open market. By itself, the exchange rate is not a full economic indicator of the health of the economy, but movements in the rate over a period can point towards economic problems. In our case, the indicators have dire consequences.

In a 5 year period from January 2008 to the date of this article the Rupee has depreciated from 60.9 to 97.7 against the US Dollar. That is a whopping 60% depreciation. To put this in perspective, in the same period, some other regional currencies showed the following trend: Indian Rupees – 39%; Sri Lankan Rupees: 19%; Bangladesh Taka: 18%; Nepalese Rupees: 38%.

A depreciating currency should help the exports of a country. Taking a 5 year period again, and using calendar(not fiscal) year 2008 base exports of $ 19.58 billion, by the end of this calendar year we are expected to reach exports of $ 24.5 billion. A measly 25% growth against a 60% devaluation.

It is plain the government does not know what they are doing. Who were the finance ministers during this period?

1) November 2007 to March 2008            Salman Shah

2) April 2008 to May 2008                          Ishaq Dar

3) June 2008 to October 2008                  Naveed Qamar

4) November 2008 to February 2010       Shaukat Tareen

5) March 2010 to Incumbent                    Hafeez Shaikh

In my next blog I will discuss some of the reasons for this anomaly!

Rauf Kadri

Founder

Pakistan Economic Reform Party