We have been hearing about the weakening of the rupee in last few days, Irrespective of whether it is a Local Indian fretting about increase in the fuel, interest and food prices because of it, or a happy NRI thinking of making more money by exchange rates, or the great Indian Media happy that they have something to make long news about it, It has been in the news nevertheless.
So It got me thinking as well, and devoured a lot of articles about it thus,If you are keen on why it is falling there is one such interestig explanation here. Athough a person from non-economic background there were some ground truths that hit me, when there is nothing I can do about the falling rupee at the national level it struck me that If do my part and if every Indian does then yeah we could do a great deal about it. There are a lot of small changes that we can easily make in our day to day life which would have huge impact on our nation and us in turn..Also these are the changes that would do a lot good for our health and ecology as well.
I thought Let me make a list of changes that would be great.
1. One of the most common and big impact is petrol and diesel, As the petrol and diesel are traded in $'s and depreciating rupee means you pay more for it, and given that diesel is partially deregulated there is government money going when you drive your luxury diesel car which inturn affect the rupee. Also the increase in transportation would inturn push the inflation high. Thus a small step to take either public commute or common transportation to office and schools, or use bicycle to work would actually save the rupee.
2. In India we take great pride in telling that we are using imported products, Every other conversation you hear, be your neighbor who takes pride in saying that she bought an imported apple or used imported kale and parsley for her soup or your co-worker filling him/herself with so-called sugar filled fresh juices we unknowingly increase the import and thus indirectly cause in rupee fall. Instead using local seasonal vegetables and fruits close to the home while reducing packaged foods would not only help the rupee but also your health, and ease environmental pollution by reducing the carbon footprint by reducing the distance your food travels.
3.India which is known for its variety of culinary dishes with tons of local beverages and foods, It is sad state of affairs to see kids addicted to Coke, Pepsi and burgers, This addiction when increases the obesity of people having it, depletes health of consumers and sadly rupee strength as well.This sugar drink with profit margin is more than 100% is indeed a costly addiction, Going to home made dishes and local drinks like lemonade and lassi's is something which all of us can imbibe.
4. Fashion market has grown very big in India with loads of shopping malls mushrooming in every corner of the city, All the internationally branded clothes and fashion we buy impacts our import and hence the rupee, When the international market craves for Indian made clothes we ourselves look at it with contempt, so next time give desi-brands a try and I'm sure you will not regret.
5. One of the most innocent looking industry is that of beauty products, every channel that you browse, every actress tries to sell some or the other beauty product be it for hair care or face care.
All the fairness cream ad's that come create a false need, We Indians who were once proud of our golden brown to wheatish skin tone are now craving fair skin thanks to those ad's, because they have created a need that to be confident and likable you need to be fair and sadly we fall prey to it. Most of those brands have SLES, parabens etc which are considered a bane for skin health, more about that in another blog, Instead we could use local organic brands which have low margins and thus not widely advertised.Also I plan to talk about organic stuff and DIY's in another blog in here in coming months.
These are very simple steps which you and me can take to save rupee instead of cribbing about it.Do share it. I would add more points if I can think of and I would be glad to take comments on this.
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I am not from economics background as well so my views might be misguided too.
ReplyDeleteBut i have heard this "shun the imported goods" too often and i believe it is too simplistic a viewpoint without taking into considerations the overall repercussions of it.(I agree on point 1 by the way)
Hypothetically speaking, let's say people do follow these ideas - then india today will be like india during the license raj when there as heavy restrictions on foreign companies setting up establishments in india to protect indian companies. Is this really what we want ? Visualise driving ambassadors instead of hondas or wearing some ill-fitting local jeans over levis.
Secondly, this doesn't take into the account the employment opportunities provided by these MNCs. So we stop using imported products of any form. All of them shut shop and go back. Do you think all those millions of employees directly/indirectly working for them (including sales, marketing, transportation etc) will be able to be find jobs in the local kirana shops or garment shops ?
To be honest my opinion on lowering of rupee is that we cant do anything about it. Look at this way - 1 dollar was about 50 rs 60 months back, it was close 70 when you wrote this article and now it is 60.
Its really improbable that indians suddenly increased imports by 40% in 6 months and then dropped by another 20% in 2 months !!
I have very minimal knowledge about these things but i am guessing that investor confidence in india(which basically decides whether they pump in money or withdraw) has higher impact on exchange prices than pretty much anything you or me can do.
Well i should have made myself clear that i am not against MNC's atleast when working for one :-)!
ReplyDeleteGoing Desi doesn't mean shunning MNC right ?
Also it is not about penalizing MNC's by the govt.. If you ask me i would shun food bill and would instead provide employment.
If you see the go desi i have quoted is for items which applies no only at the national level but globally, when we have crops growing locally we could use that instead of importing other's for fancy right ? A lot of these MNC's are infact doing it, they have tie up's with local farmers now to give them support price and buy all their products, esp in states like gujrat and Madhya pradesh.
Also don't underestimate the power of kirana shops! It still is one of the biggest employee provider in our country that runs over generation, If you go to rural india it is those kirana shops you have to go buy your stuff! And it was those kirana shop which gave aerated drink its sale(Read about thanda matlab coca cola!!).
Also i have written about beauty products ! seriously you want to use the banned / shunned products from developed country to proliferate ?
Yes as i have mentioned myself there are ton loads of factors that would influence economy but instead of waiting on something which is not in your control isn't it better to do whatever little we can ?
What say ??
I appreciate your enthusiasm in doing something for the country and many of your points are valid too.
ReplyDeleteHowever while there might be small section of society who buy imported stuff because it is imported, I think majority will buy it because they find value in it.
Pretty much every business head have claimed that India is very Value For Money based in its business model(except probably upper echelons of society). So that being the case if someone is buying imported apples or juices over indian ones - I assume they find it good(I don't mean by health perspective but rather that they like it). At the end of the day its free market so buying trends pretty much reflect what people want. Like i mentioned earlier restricted market only reduces options for end customer but instead of some foreign company making money, rich indians will be benefited.
I am sure you know more about beauty products than me so i trust your comments on that :)