Ms. Supriya Shrinate said-Right here, before you, is Narendra Modi trying to resurrect and control and rein in the fall of the Indian Rupee, he is not being able to do that. This is a magnifying glass and I have brought it because I have lost track of how deep and how steeply the Rupee has fallen, and of course, with that the Prime Minister’s dignity.This is the magnifying glass, which will help us discover the Rupee, because it was Mr Modi, who said that along with the falling Rupee, the Prime Minister’s dignity and his office’s grace also falls. I wonder what does he have to say because Rupee is today staring at 87 to a dollar. He was handed over the rupee at58 to a dollar, when he became Prime Minister in 2014.

This is where the rupee is today and this is last checked about an hour and a half back, but, rupee has been dangerously close to 87. It looks like Mr Modi has made up his mind for the rupee to hit a century.This is where the rupee was at58 to a Dollar in 2014, when he became the Prime Minister and under his nose, it has gone down to 87. Essentially, the rupee has fallen by29 to a dollar which is a fall of 50% in the last 10 years. It isn’t, as if the government hasn’t done much to reign in the rupee. The RBI has done a lot actually.The RBI has spent close to 80 billion dollars since September 2024 to reign in the rupee. 80 billion dollars converts to `6,83,000 crores and still the rupee’s free fall continues unabated.

I want to show you, where our Forex reserves are. Our Forex reserves today are at a 10-month low on the 27th of September and this is a figure the RBI reports every week. On the 27th of September, it was at 704 billion dollars. The last reported number for the 10th of January, which was reported on the 17th, is at 625 billion dollars. This is how much from the steep highs of 704, it has fallen.

And before Mr Modi begins to blame Nehru, here is a pie chart that explains to you, that tells you the contribution of each of our Prime Minister in the falling rupee. When the British left this country, the rupee was at 3.31 to a dollar. The rupee has fallen by about 83- 84. If you take the contribution of each of these Prime Ministers to that 83- 84 fall, this is how it stacks up. Jawaharlal Nehru, their packed punching bag actually contributed only 2 per cent to that fall. Indira Ji, in her first tenure contributed 5 per cent and in her second tenure contributed 5 per cent. Rajiv Ji contributed 6 per cent. After him VP Singh contributed 6 per cent, Narasimha Rao got an extremely fragile broken economy and he was pushed to the walls to bring in the reforms of 1991, we had to go to the IMF, he contributed 17 per cent to this fall. Atal Ji became the Prime Minister, rupee hit the 45 to a dollar mark, he contributed 11 per cent to this fall. When, Dr Manmohan Singh became the Prime Minister, he inherited the rupee at 45. He actually strengthened the rupee to41, till the global financial economic crisis happened in 2008 and even then, our currency fell to only 48 to a dollar. It was during the taper tantrums of 2012-2014 emerging market currencies were falling and so did our currency, we fell to69 to a dollar but we resurrected the rupee and brought it to `58 and that is how much we handed it over to Mr Modi.

Not just that, we pulled back growth from 5.1 to 6.9 per cent, almost a 2 per cent rise. We brought back foreign investments to the tune of 35 billion dollars in a matter of few months, that’s how you resurrect, but, yes Dr. Singh contributed a little over 16 per cent for the benefit of all of you let’s say 17 per cent to the fall in this rupee and then the world’s biggest economist, a specialist in every matter Mr. Modi comes to the fore. He has contributed 34 per cent to the total fall of the Indian currency since independence and he has ensured that the rupee has fallen by 50% from where he inherited in 2014. 34 per cent is the highest fall, any Prime Minister has contributed to the depreciating rupee.

People might turn around and ask you- how does it matter? Well! It matters a lot. Your imports are more expensive. Expensive import means- your domestic essential items are more expensive, inflation is higher; higher inflation- essentially means, vegetables, fruits, eggs, things like that, essential items become more expensive. RBI will move in to raise rates to control inflation and RBI raising rate means- your EMIs are going to be higher, they will be costlier, your home loan EMIs, your auto loan EMIs, your education loan EMIs, several, personal loan EMIs, all of that will be much higher. There will be expensive overseas travel and education. From this platform, we only ask four questions;

1. Does the Modi government realise, what a depreciating rupee is doing?
2. Do they have the plan to resurrect and strengthen the rupee?
3. For how long will we continue to spend our precious Forex reserves to control and strengthen the rupee, something that the Modi government is not being able to do?
4. And do they realise for once and for all that a falling rupee contributes to high inflation and do they have any plan whatsoever to bring in respite to the common people of this Country and give them some respite from back breaking high prices? Friday, January 24, 2025