Optimism is ideal when served in balanced doses. Looks like union finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman totally missed that balance with her now trending statement, “The rupee is not weakening, but the USD is strengthening.” Looks like our government has perfected the art of revealing complicated information through top-notch euphemisms. The statement which might have been intended to quell the anxiety of the public about the not-so-favorable economic situation of the country has now become what the netizens call, “the joke of the year.” Well if the aim was to quell the anxiety through laughter, then yes, the finance minister did not miss the mark. Because her statement has become the meme magnet on Twitter and everybody is having a good laugh. Read along to know more about the million dollar statement.
Getting The Facts Right
Although the statement has become a matter of joke, it must be noted that there is some truth behind what the finance minister said. In comparison to other world economies which has been competing against an incessantly strengthening dollar, India has indeed been doing well. The deluge of jokes and criticism online could even be attributed to the mere surface knowledge about the issue at hand.
“And I’m not talking technicalities, but it is a matter of fact that India’s rupee probably has withstood this dollar rate going up, the exchange rate in favor of dollar strengthening is there and I think the Indian rupee has performed much better than many other emerging market currencies,” said the finance minister in response to a question about the weakening rupee.
The USD is indeed a strong contender given its primacy in the international finance and trade, particularly the energy trade. Battling against a strong contender like the dollar does result in some scars, and going by the finance minister’s statement, the Indian Rupee is fighting along fairly well with relatively less scars. However, that hasn’t stopped Twitterati from making memes about the statement. Let us flip through a couple of responses on Twitter.
"Rupee is not weakening, Dollor is strengthening"
~Nimo Tai pic.twitter.com/LlumRMiXAI— Nimo Tai 🇮🇳 (@Cryptic_Miind) October 16, 2022
Well
She should be awarded nobel prize in economics!#NirmalaSitaraman pic.twitter.com/cHAyglwFFH
— இசை (@isai_) October 16, 2022
Looks like the statement did not have the desired effect after all.
‘Rupee is not weakening, Dollar is strengthening’ : @nsitharaman
This reminded me of a school kid saying, I won’t look myself as a bad student but the syllabus was tough. pic.twitter.com/z6mtZqF0gW
— YSR (@ysathishreddy) October 16, 2022
Nirmala Sitaraman is a much better stand up comedian than the likes of Kunal Kamra & Munawar Faruqui.
— Spirit of Congress✋ (@SpiritOfCongres) October 16, 2022
Talk about a walk down the memory lane.
Modiji from 2013 has a response to Nirmala Sitaraman who says Rupee isn’t weakening but dollar is strengthening.
A true visionary leader! pic.twitter.com/rIWmZZxsXH— Stockflix (@stockflixx) October 16, 2022
"Rupees is not getting weaker dollar becomes stronger" – Economist Nirmala Sitaraman@nsitharaman @anil00901 pic.twitter.com/M7f9CrlKds
— Rahul Agrawal (@agrawal__rahul) October 16, 2022
I have learnt an entirely new concept from FM Smt. #NirmalaSitaraman ji that #Rupee ₹ is not sliding but USD $ is strengthening.
Thanks for updating my knowledge of absolutely ' NEW ECONOMICS '. pic.twitter.com/KOFfUe75Qm
— Akshaya K.Mauryaअक्षय कुमार मौर्य (@AkshayaKMaurya) October 16, 2022
https://twitter.com/Ms_X_YZ_/status/1581735503648673792?s=20&t=dt3dV1iC_otWCrSHaMALqw
There are people who look at the facts too.
This time I would like to support her Statement Here is the Facts behind her Statement #RupeevsDollar #RupeeFalls pic.twitter.com/CKuXrz5Ter
— TAX DESTINATION (@NANIBALU14) October 17, 2022
Who going to end this shit still a year to go Nimmy #NirmalaSitaraman pic.twitter.com/6w5BPScdrV
— Akilan1718🇮🇳 (@Akilan_R_E) October 16, 2022