Do you remember an old adage:
‘ye cheez to Takkay ki nahiN hai’ (This thing is not worth a Takka).
Well, today the tables have turned. What was once true of BD Takka is now true for a Pakistani Rupee. As of today 1 Bangladeshi Takka equals 1.14 Pakistani Rupees . The phenomenal slide of Pakistani Rupee, which started around January 2008 continues unabated. Pakistani rupee is now trading at very close to 80 Rupees to a US dollar. Yahoo Finance was quoting Pakistani rupee at Rs 78.375 to a US dollar on October 6, 2008.
We also had a post on this topic back in May 25, 2008 when Rupee had slid down to Rs 68 for a dollar but this time slide in Rupee’s value seems like the steepest in history of Pakistan. Rupee has lost almost one third of its value in the past 10 months.
The question that everyone is asking is whether current Government is capable of controlling this situation or is it beyond anybody’s control.
Pakistan’s finance Minister (since May 12, 2008) is Mr. Naveed Qamar and atleast I’ve not heard anything from him about what are Government’s plans to bolster Rupee’s value or to stop fast depleting foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan (now down to approx $8.1 bn).
What is happening to a common person among all this turmoil is depicted well in a sher by Anwar Masood.
“jo dil pe guzarti hai raqam karte raheN ge”
kal tum ko bata deN ge raqam kitni bani hai
Reference:
If Pakistan doesn’t get the $100 bn bailout, Zardari is asking for, I wonder what our govt. has planned as a backup!!!
Shows this sites bias against elected gobt. Why did you never write about this when this happened in Musharraf days which is when it started.
Naseer, your comment on comparison with Bangladesh is taken in positive spirit and it should be considered as an opportunity to do better on our economic policy maker’s part. I never intended bad for BD or their currency. May they grow more prosperous and stronger.
You quoted Aali’s sher in the correct spirit. I agree.
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
Twice in recent memory, the PPP government has been proven itself to be corrupt, incompetent, and deceitful. Yet it was voted into power again, with the hapless Pakistani public celebrating in tow.
Why is it that we never learn from history?
Superb achievement of civilian govt. Now they will go begging back to IMF and World Bank.