(Published in Le Mauricien, Dec 1999)
There has been three exposé in the press on the present foreign exchange situation-from the two ex-finance Ministers, Messrs Sithanen and Bheerfick and from the incumbent, Mr Bunwaree. Let me try to dissect these explanations to single out the wheat from the chaff.
I’ll, at the very least, start by being decent and gentlemanly and give the floor to our good cardiologist at the helm of the country's finances.
«Une pénurie artifcielle (de devises) avait été créée par des clients de banques commerciales qui……from l’express of October 22nd.
Wrong diagnosis!!, It's the artificiality of the diagnostic that sticks out so oddly rather than the artificial shortage of foreign exchange. Without the electrocardio something and the imposing white overcoat, our «Manitou des finances» looks so puny and seems stranded in the muddy waters of the economics of foreign currencies. The once towering backbencher, who used to cross swords with Ivan le terrible, has metamorphosed into a weakling, so unconvincing in his new role d'argentier. The poor doctor with the good bedside manners has succeeded in anaesthetising the economy and we have now only to wait passively for the ripples of the S.E Asian financial upheaval to reach our shores.
I move next to our LSE golden boy of FRN fame, the master juggler-for he is the consummate artist who has a knack for juggling figures and hiding behind them. In a very long and tedious write-up in l’express of October 30th, Mr Sithanen goes from tomatoes to potatoes, passing summarily through the foreign exchange market via confidence-crisis and one- way-bet, and ending up with «moral hazard». The tomatoes
and potatoes bit is of a very good SC standard but no more.
The comments on confidence in the market and one-way- bet or a market loaded for a no-lose gamble is good deduction but no more. But the last bit on moral hazard is the one which I cherish most- Guess why? Because it's one of those LSE wonders -high blown vacuity that brings nothing to our table of discussion except “du pure bluff”, I feel it is morally hazardous to graft such a theme, more relevant to the international financial infrastructure, to the simple nitty gritty of foreign exchange. A la tomatoes bit, we expected Mr Sithanen to lead us to the murky foreign exchange waters to quench our thirst. Plodding along up to the «moral hazard» bit with «'homme du FRN», we finally realized that we were taken for a ride.
I come now to our third protagonist, the man from Oxon. In the Sunday Express of the 1st of November, with an effortless sense of superiority, our Manou delivered some brilliant Oxfordian pieces of diagnosis and policy advice, cleverly laying the blame for the financial mess at the feet of «the wrong person at the right place».
After clearing the foliage of the proverbial Manou's arrogance, I was finally able to grasp the basics of the present foreign currency turmoil. From the dysfunctional money and currency markets, the excessive rupee depreciation to the loose monetary policy of the Central Bank, all the bits and pieces fell into place to form a nice whole. But our cher Manou seems to be the right person at the wrong place, “l'homme au remède de cheval” is the odd man out «dans le monde étrange de la politique et sa politicaille». He is not the «bête politique, par excellence».
Would you mind joining me in the noble task of effortlessly exporting our superior intellect to the more deserving souls of the lor-Arc...»
Mark Nattar
