Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Basant Roi Back, Rupee Down By 3%, Already

By yesterday our currency had lost 3.28% of its value against the dollar. In the mere 18 trading days since Basant Roi has been back at the BoM. He is known to have a strong and silly depreciation bias. In fact if you had to chart the number of times he has asked for a lower value for our rupee -- when he was not in a position to sink it himself -- you would literally have to use a log scale.

I hope Mr. Lutchmeenaraidoo's idea of a "second economic miracle" doesn't involve making Mauritius increasingly insignificant in the world. And keeping local pump prices artificially higher after oil prices collapsed is kind of contradictory about making SMEs the backbone of our economy. And is oblivious to the fact that he is presenting a budget in a few weeks. Besides we've been suffering from such a disconnect for way too long. And for very wrong reasons.

All has not been bad though. Swiftly increasing pensions to Rs5,000 will surely help restore some disposable income to those who need it the most. And that cannot do our economy any harm.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

vire mam!

Anonymous said...

I have a question:

What about the corporate flat tax of 15%? Has it been increased now?

Anonymous said...

http://www.lexpress.mu/article/258875/jacques-li-wan-po-depreciation-graduelle-roupie-serait-solution-pour-proteger

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

The rupee has lost almost 11% since the arrival of Basant Roi. And about Rs2 in the last six business days. Miracle quand tu nous tiens...

Anonymous said...

Mo enna ene ti question. Cotte mo capable trouve bane comptes audites tabagie cotte mo acheter mo di pain maison?

akagugo said...

And with the reduction in purchasing power, comes a slide towards lower quality for an ever-growing cost-conscious working class...

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Yep and in Mauritius lower-quality is sold at a premium.

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Did depreciation-happy Basant Roi actually say this??? The comments are interesting.

akagugo said...

Clap, clap, clap... Wai doh! Working for the 1% has its merits, eh?

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

L'express got the two questions that helped the depreciation-happy Roi clinch the award this year. Do we need to wonder how these went into the media? Also are these two questions the same every year so that you prepare for this like a past exam? In any case the answers don't look that particularly convincing. Maybe some candidates didn't send their responses in time if these were written responses. Or maybe the jury have a strong trickle-down economics bias.

Sanjay Jagatsingh said...

Mo panse bann suedwa komite nobel bizin pran enn rdz BoM tower. Anfin zot pu apran kitsoz.

Anonymous said...

Le roi est la:

https://www.lexpress.mu/article/354888/gm-having-recourse-bom-it-hold-complicity-inside

akagugo said...

Another former BoM governor leans in on this matter. Forget about rationale, just use the excuse that others have done it previously.