As the government struggles to defend a steadily depreciating rupee, here is an anecdote about the 1991 devaluation. Then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh had gone to the UK to attend a meeting of the South Commission. When he returned he was adamant that he wanted to return the £500 or £600 he had received as an allowance. Officials were a little surprised but also a little irritated at his insistence. "Sir, it's ok to keep this amount of money in foreign currency with you," one of them said. Then Manmohan Singh explained why he wanted to return the money: "I don't want anyone to say that I bought this currency in the knowledge that there would be a devaluation," he explained.
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