THE TRAVAILS OF THE RUPEE’S NEVER-ENDING FALL
The rupee’s sharp fall against the US dollar – although not as much as Turkey’s lira or Argentina’s peso among other emerging market currencies – raises questions as to whether it is good or bad for the Indian economy. Those who welcome a weaker rupee are exporters as a (1) depreciating exchange rate improves their competitiveness in selling their merchandise abroad. A cheaper rupee is also bad news for the oil import-dependent Indian economy. With global crude prices likely to remain at elevated levels, thanks to geopolitical tensions in West Asia, the country’s import bill is likely to balloon further, besides contributing to higher inflation. The rupee is under tremendous pressure as India’s (2) burgeoning imports have to be paid in dollars. With foreign portfolio investors making net sales mostly from India’s debt market since April, the exchange rate of the rupee is testing record lows of Rs 69 to a US dollar.
The RBI, for its part, maintains that the central bank doesn’t target any particular exchange rate of the rupee although it can and does (3) intervene if there are sharp movements in its value as during the so-called “taper tantrum” when it registered a low of Rs 68.8 to a dollar in August 2013. It then scrambled to build up foreign exchange reserves through NRI deposits to defend the rupee. RBI has more national objectives in mind to anchor inflationary expectations. Towards this end, it modestly raised its key policy rate for the first time in four years. If it (4) resorted to much (5) steeper rate hikes to check the outflows of portfolio investments in the debt market, for instance, that would (6) snuff out the (7) nascent recovery in the India growth story. It has, however, liberalized debt market investment norms. The rupee finding its own level is the natural consequence of this trilemma.
The (8) upshot is that the weakness of the Indian rupee is likely to persist, if not intensify, as this is occurring against the backdrop of the dollar entering a phase of strength, given the prospects of US growth and hike in interest rates by the US Fed. Although Indian exporters may be relieved, a lower rupee may not be the (9) panacea for their woes. To grow, our exports need to diversify in the direction of greater value addition and superior quality. Our more powerful neighbor, China, seeks to maintain tighter control over the exchange rate of the yuan and conduct an independent monetary policy. To realize these goals, it necessarily has had to (10) clamp down on capital inflows and outflows from the economy.
1. DEPRECIATE (verb) मूल्यह्रास होना
Meaning: diminish in value over a period of time.
Synonyms: devalue, cheapen, reduce, mark down, cut, discount, slash, attenuate, depress, downgrade, lower, sink, debase, demonetize.
Antonyms: appreciate, enhance, mark up, upgrade, overestimate, overprice, overrate, overvalue.
2. BURGEONING (adjective) तेजी से बढ़ना
Meaning: growing, expanding, or developing rapidly.
Synonyms: flourishing, budding, blooming, increasing, mushrooming, blossoming, thriving, expanding.
Antonyms: dwindling, dropping, deteriorating, diminishing, regressive, declining, abating, fading, falling, waning.
3. INTERVENE (verb) हस्तक्षेप करना
Meaning: to intentionally become involved in a difficult situation in order to improve it or prevent it from getting worse.
Synonyms: intercede, intermediate, interpose, mediate, interfere, intrude, meddle, obtrude, pry, arbitrate, moderate, negotiate, referee.
Antonyms: stand by, avoid, eschew, shun, disregard, ignore, overlook, evade, desist, avert, conjoin.
4. RESORT (verb) प्रयोग करना
Meaning: turn to and adopt (a course of action, especially an undesirable one) so as to resolve a difficult situation.
Synonyms: use, utilize, employ, adopt, exercise, apply, refer, turn, call on.
Antonyms: debilitate, avoid, dodge, deface, bawl, break, crack.
5. STEEPER (adjective) अत्यधिक
Meaning: (of a price or demand) not reasonable; excessive.
Synonyms: expensive, dear, costly, high, stiff, unreasonable, overpriced, exorbitant, extortionate, outrageous, prohibitive.
Antonyms: deficient, inadequate, insufficient, minimal, minimum, middling, moderate, modest, reasonable, temperate.
6. SNUFF (verb) विघटन होना
Meaning: to make extinct: put an end to.
Synonyms: eliminate, eradicate, destroy, remove, wipe out, annihilate, rub out, exterminate.
Antonyms: generate, beget, save, ignite, foster, nurture, civilize, resuscitate, resurrect, revive, restore.
7. NASCENT (adjective) आरम्भ होता हुआ
Meaning: beginning to come into existence.
Synonyms: aborning, budding, inceptive, inchoate, incipient, formative, inaugural, initial, elementary, embryonic, rudimentary, introductory, preliminary, preparatory.
Antonyms: developed, evolved, improved, refined, full-blown, full-fledged, mature, ripened.
8. UPSHOT (noun) परिणाम
Meaning: the final or eventual outcome or conclusion of a discussion, action, or series of events.
Synonyms: result, consequence, out-turn, sequel, effect, repercussion, reverberation, ramification, conclusion, termination, culmination, concomitant, aftermath.
Antonyms: basis, foundation, groundwork, impetus, incentive, stimulus, origin, root, source, antecedent, causation.
9. PANACEA (noun) सर्वरोगहारी
Meaning: a solution or remedy for all difficulties.
Synonyms: cure-all, elixir, nostrum, relief, corrective, medicant, alleviation, aid, ambrosia, balm.
Antonyms: venom, bane, apocalypse, poison, toxin, illness, trouble.
10. CLAMP DOWN (phrasal verb) शिकंजा कसना
Meaning: suppress or prevent something in an oppressive or harsh manner.
Synonyms: stop, limit, restrain, restrict, check, control, quash, quell, repress, snuff, squash, squelch, subdue.
Antonyms: abet, aid, assist, prop up, support, foment, incite, instigate, provoke, stir, advance, cultivate, encourage, forward.
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