One Small Step For FC Reserve - One Giant Leap for Environment

The announcement of a moratorium on import of vehicles is welcome news, but it falls far short of what is called for, if we are serious about combatting the plummeting foreign exchange reserve situation in the country. Rumors doing the round is that our foreign exchange reserve has fallen below the level mandated by the Constitution. That appears to be untrue, upon ascertaining from more dependable sources. According to a knowledgeable source, our reserve - which includes both third country currency as well as the Indian Rupee - stood at Nu.845.00 million at the end of last month - enough to cover imports of essentials for little over fourteen months.

Reuters reporting on Bhutan's foreign currency woes

Clearly it is a case of the government dithering on taking swift decisions, which is called for given the precariousness of the situation. They cannot be caught napping. They should have acted much earlier - when they became aware of the headwinds of doom blowing. Since no large-scale exports have been reported in the immediate recent past, the country may be inching closer to the proverbial red line, in terms of our foreign currency reserve.

But to be fair, the DNT government has not been found wanting where bold decisions were needed to be taken. This gingerly step of imposing a temporary moratorium on import of vehicles is not enough by far - but it is a step in the right direction, nonetheless. They now need to rein in the other villains - the importers of none-essential goods. For God’s sakes - why do we need to import cheap imitation branded goods, toilet papers, face tissue, biscuits, chocolates and cosmetics, against hard currency from places like Thailand, China and Vietnam? Shamefully, for a country that boasts of 71% forest cover, we imported Nu.3.2 billion worth of wood and wood products, while our own forest stand is rotting away and degrading the quality of our renewable natural resource, in the process causing loss of ground water, resulting in shortage of drinking water.

I have already written about the dark side of the import of none-essential goods - how it contributes to the falling foreign currency reserve - not just through outward remittances to pay for the imports, but as a consequence of the other more serious clandestine transections that are rumored to be happening - through the Hawala route. I think it is really simple to validate these rumors, if the government is serious about their intensions.

As I keep saying - let us not allow ourselves to arrive at a point where we have to say sorry because, by then, it will be too late.

The moratorium on vehicle imports will surely impact the business of the vehicle dealerships but I happen to know that most of the owners of the agencies that deal in vehicle imports are responsible people. For the common good, I know that they will rise above the situation and accept that each of us citizens have to contribute in different ways during times of difficulty – a small sacrifice by them will mean the world of difference to the much larger population that stand to loose lot more, if tough decisions are deferred.

The moratorium makes sense in two very meaningful ways - it stops the outflow of foreign currency to pay for the import of vehicles. It reduces the import of fossil fuel to power them. In the process, our doddering environment benefits.

The ugly truth that remains hidden from public knowledge is the state of Thimphu’s air and water quality. If the authorities dare conduct a test, we are likely to discover that our much touted “pristine environment” is a myth - I think we are worst than Beijing or New Delhi - for the simple reason that we are located in a narrow valley boxed in by high rise mountains, while Beijing and New Delhi are located in wide open plains. The following image of Thimphu valley was captured by me some 15 years ago - from Phajoding:

Thimphu valley swathed in a thick blanket of poisonous particulates. Imagine what we are breathing.

The image does not look like that of Thimphu - but it is. I have pointed out the statue of Buddha Dordenma with a red arrow to validate that the photo is indeed that of Thimphu valley.

You can see the thick blanket of poisonous particulates that are trapped and suspended over Thimphu valley. The situation would have deteriorated many folds since.