Rupee to stabilize with govt’s measures to address the issue’

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

The rupee will stabilize below Rs 125 against the US dollar as the government has taken serious measures to address the underline imbalance of the economy. Stabilization of the rupee could be seen in the near furniture, Secretary to the Treasury Dr P B Jayasundara said at a press conference held on Monday. “The exchange rate is driven by speculation. However, there is no reason whyit should not stabilize below Rs 125 once the measures taken by the government begins to take effect. With measures such as the adjusting of fuel and electricity prices, imposing of higher import tariffs together with revising the monetary policy twice in the last few months, is expected to bring stability to the economy,” he said.

Dr P B Jayasundara

The Treasury Secretary requested the media to be more positive and responsible when reporting as irresponsible reporting in the form of incomplete and half truths gives rise to speculation.

Quoting examples from the region, he requested to take a leaf from financial reporting of the region’s newspapers in China, India and Singapore.

He pointed out that current economic status of these countries is reported positively in comparison to the world. This makes the report more holistic he said. Responding to a query on government waste he said that a certain percentage of waste is present in any country and also certain incidents are reported out of context without showing the whole picture which gives rise to misinterpretation of the progress made at large.

Quoting an example, he said that motor accidents on the expressway are reported without considering or showing that 500,000 vehicles have been added to the road network last year alone, taxing the already overburdened road network which at any time has a percentage of accidents.

Speaking of large economies such as the USA and India which considered to having best minds and leading qualified economists at the helm, he said that they too have not fared well either.

“Government projects will give dividends in the long run. There may be certain delays in large projects taking off. These minor alterations of dates are not an alarming factor.

When considering the status of the economy, dispelling doubts created in the minds by frivolous reporting he said that at no time have we defaulted loans obtained.

Due to this fact there has not been any difficulty in raising funds as the country has a proven track record of servicing its debts on time,” he said. Even now, our capability of securing debts has not diminished in any sense,” the Treasury Secretary said.

The government is considering $ 500 million sovereign bond as the existing bond will mature in August. The bond will be re-positioned and the Central Bank is making every possible measure to manage this task. The funds will be utilized to retire foreign debts and could be considered as debt neutral,”he added.