BHOPAL: Ruling out an economic crisis similar to Sri Lanka happening in India, former union finance minister and opposition parties’ presidential election candidate Yashwant Sinha said on Thursday that the galloping depreciation of the Indian Rupee to the US Dollar is highly alarming and concerning.
“I don’t see a situation similar to Sri Lanka happening in India, as our economy isn’t dependent on just a few industries like Sri Lanka. The tourism industry on which the Sri Lankan economy was largely dependent, suffered a huge jolt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the Sri Lankan tea market too was adversely hit. I don’t see similar things happening in India, as our economy isn’t just based on a few industries,” Sinha told journalists in Bhopal on Thursday.
He, however, added that what is concerning is the continuous decline in the Indian Rupee to the US Dollar.
“Never have I seen such steady depreciation in the value of the rupee as it’s happening presently. During the tenure of the present Prime Minister, the Indian Rupee has suffered the steepest fall against the US Dollar, from 58.44 in 2014 to 79.86 as I speak. This has badly hit the common people reflected through an unprecedented increase in prices of essentials, like the LPG gas cylinder, which was priced at Rs 410 in 2014, but has risen by around 300 per cent to Rs 1129 presently.”
“What is even more worrying is the fact that our robust foreign exchange reserves are fast depleting. “Till a few days ago, our country’s huge foreign exchange reserve was pegged at 641 Billion Dollars, but the RBI has had to spend 45 Billion Dollars out of that to save the sliding rupee. I’m only hoping that the global conditions don’t become such that there is a run on the rupee. As far as I know, you can never fight the market, if the market is determined to take Rupee’s value to 85 to one US Dollar, then you can’t fight it. We’re faced with a crisis situation, where our huge foreign exchange reserves are depleting very fast,” Sinha maintained.
While speaking about his opponent in the presidential election, the NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu, the former union minister said, “There is nothing in the President’s post, why doesn’t PM Modi appoint her the country’s Prime Minister.”
He further said, ``If the BJP leadership was so committed to tribal empowerment, why didn’t they choose a tribal leader for the presidential election from Madhya Pradesh, which has the largest tribal population in the country.”