SHARJAH, Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes, has hailed the UAE stabilising its currency against the US Dollar as “very successful” in fighting inflation.
“Today, unfortunately central banks mistakenly believe they fight monetary inflation by not stabilsing their currencies. The UAE has stabilised their currency against the US Dollar for years very successfully,” Forbes told the Emirates News Agency (WAM), on the sidelines of the 11th International Government Communication Forum (IGCF), which opened today at Sharjah Expo Centre.
He expressed his categorical rejection of currency devaluation as a solution to combat inflation. “Other countries don’t have the same wisdom and so they believe they fight inflation by depressing the economy, having less economic activity, which would bring the prices down because people can’t buy as much when you make them poor.
“I think that is a mistaken approach. Central banks should focus on stabilising their currency, letting the supply bottlenecks be unplugged, so to speak, and we will get back on a good path. But unfortunately, central banks and governments are bringing in unnecessary suffering because they are deliberately trying to slow the economy down and the US is now going to go into a recession, as a result.”
He lauded the economic diversification policy embraced by the UAE. “The Emirates for years has realised it’s great to have oil and gas, but believed also there is an opportunity to develop other industries. In Dubai, there is a huge tourism industry. They’ve realised the need to diversification. They have the right environment, a stable currency, a low tax regime and a government that wants things to happen. There is an old saying that capital goes where it’s welcomed and capital stays where it is well treated.”
Source: Emirates News Agency