The dollar, rupee and SDR
A potpourri of personal thoughts and anecdotes on exchange control, the dollar, rupee and SDR
I always refrained, one could say deliberately, from affecting any semblance of punditry in these matters. That was because I never worked there, and changes in the late 80s/90s happened too fast for one to catch up in those pre-internet days.
Breaking from my self-imposed distance from matters relating to foreign exchange is owed to a few YouTube videos. One gentleman, an expert on financial issues and with a subscription of 1.7 million, was holding forth on how soon the Chinese yuan would replace the dollar. I commented on how he could base his views on five-year-old data when the circumstances change every few months if not weeks or days. The expert replied condescendingly that I might email him to clarify my doubts.
On another channel, usually focussing on Indian politics and myriad other subjects of topical interest, the interviewer asked how soon the rupee would be on par with the dollar. The expert replied that he expected the ratio to become 1:3 in about three to five years. To put matters in perspective, that was roughly the rate as long back as 1947, and at the time of my writing, it was about 82 dollars. And then there were the numerous chest-thumping nationalist videos speculating how soon the Indian rupee would replace the dollar.
Please read here for a potpourri of thoughts and personal anecdotes on exchange control, the rupee, the dollar, and the SDR.