Titbits: Overvaluation of the rupee !!!; Our proposals for Budget 2013; The PRB award: a futile exercise ; A strategic rethink of the tourism sector.

Overvaluation of the rupee !!!
Over the past three years in these very columns we have been highlighting the fact that the rupee (REER) was misaligned but at the same time we did point out that while the Bank of Mauritius( BOM) has obsessively focused on maintaining interest rates and stabilising the rupee to contain inflation, it has also alerted to the dangers of relying unduly on a falling rupee to stimulate economic activity.

Policy Paralysis

 Modified version published in L"express, 12 Oct 2012

Titbits: Policy Paralysis; Where are we with the NSTC?; Loosening monetary policy to revive growth !!!; Budgetary figures: Some Rs 10 billion in Special Funds; A financial services centre of substance.

Policy Paralysis

The world economy retains deep scars from the collapse of the western banking system in 2007-09.  Advanced economies’ debt crisis remains unresolved. These economies are in once-a- generation seminal process of deleveraging; debt reduction -- private as well as public -- still have years to run, acting as a drag on growth long into the future.  The emerging markets’ economies, the engine of global growth so far, are slowing down appreciably. Domestically the situation is not so desperate but the economy is obviously not in good shape.