I AM a visitor from Canada. As soon as I landed at Karachi airport, I found myself a very rich man because each of my Canadian or American dollars can be converted into approximately Rs100. The taxi fare from the airport to my home cost me Rs300 which is equivalent to three dollars. For the same distance in Canada, I would have paid more than $100.

The lowest-paid employee in the American or Canadian embassy is living luxuriously like a king because of the artificially inflated value of the dollar. It is loot.

I had a stopover in Germany where I purchased a computer. The German shopkeeper refused to accept the price in Canadian or American dollars because it was a worthless currency in that country.

The United States is printing US dollars in huge quantities and buying goods and services in other countries.

It brings to my mind an episode that happened many years ago. The Americans went to France to buy its huge industries. Charles de Gaulle asked how they would pay, and the reply was in freshly-minted US dollars.

De Gaulle was furious: “All you do is print paper money in a huge quantity and buy goods and services of other countries.” He sent all American dollars in his treasury and demanded gold to redeem US dollars.

Pakistan is going through a very difficult time. If the rapid decline of its rupee is not stopped, this country will suffer. A stupid idea has been planted into the minds of many Pakistanis that the rupee’s decline in value is because of the poor economic condition of Pakistan. This is utterly ridiculous.

Pakistan’s economic condition is not worse than than that of many other countries. The US dollar has been grossly overvalued.

MANSAB ALI KHAN Karachi