|
|
Is it true that the Indian rupee suffered its highest devaluation in 1966 when its value was lowered by 36.5% against the US dollar and the Sterling Pound, and this was the second devaluation, and since then the rupee has faced three devaluations as of 1949, 1966 and 1991?
Question
#114177. Asked by armindasantana. (Apr 18 10 5:50 AM)
|
gtho4

|
yes, according to this paper. It was devalued by 57.5% in 1967 and 20% in July 1991.
"Path of the Indian Rupee 1947-1993" by Subroto Roy 1993
Following the initial devaluation with sterling in 1949, the Indian rupee was pegged to sterling and maintained at the same par-value for the next 16 years. This was in spite of weakening reserve positions and numerous severe shocks to the economy including a 1963 war with China and a 1965 war with Pakistan, as well as severe droughts and food crises.
Devaluation on June 6 1966 by 57.5 percent to Rs. 7.50 per United States dollar met with enormous resistance on non-economic grounds, and indirectly contributed to the Congress Party’s losses in the elections of 1967. This experience may have contributed to a distinct reluctance to even consider using the exchange-rate for economic policy, or to even attempt to find a realistic price for the rupee ...
Between 1981 and 1991, the Indian rupee was actively managed downwards by the authorities, remarkably with no political resistance unlike the 1966 episode in a world of fixed rates. Discrete downward changes occurred by 6.4 percent at the end of 1981, 4.3 percent at the end of 1982, and 4.5 percent at the end of 1983. These changes in the first half of the 1980s are relatively small compared to the depreciation of other major currencies against the United States dollar in that period. From September 1985 to July 1991, the rupee followed a more rapid downward course, depreciating by some 40 percent in nominal terms, during which time the United States dollar also depreciated against the other major currencies. What this may suggest is that the dollar weighed relatively heavily in the basket with which the rupee seemed to be pegged.
In July 1991, the incoming government was able to initiate significant economic reforms with surprising ease, especially the abolishment of import quotas and removal of export subsidies. On July 1 1991, the rupee was devalued by 9 percent and then on July 3 by a further 11 percent in the context of a determined effort to change the course of Indian economic policy-making towards one required by an outward-orientation.
http://independentindian.com/1993/06/01/path-of-the-indian-rupee-1947-1993/
|
Find something useful here? Please help us spread the word about FunTrivia. Recommend this page below!
|