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Well, it was nice while it lasted. For a few months at least, we were all praising the dollar peg, watching as our Gulf currencies appreciated against those of our home countries, and revelling in the rising value of our monthly remittances. As recently as March, AED100 would get me GBP19.77 or 1414.94 rupees. Today, I’m left with GBP16.75 and 1311.20 rupees for the same red note.
The dollar actually gained in value versus rival currencies when jitters about the US economy were peaking in the six months leading up to March. That’s because investors were even more worried about other countries’ economies, which tend to lag the US. Today, however, the spotlight is firmly back on the dollar, which is tumbling on the back of a poor US economy and soaring debt. The treasury department has issued record amounts of government bonds into the market to finance its stimulus and bailout packages, and so the dollar has become less and less attractive.
So how long will it be before we hear renewed calls for a revaluation of Gulf currencies? The central bank governors of Saudi, UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain will be bracing themselves for a fresh round of complaints that Gulf residents’ earning power is diminishing thanks to its dollar weight. And unlike the last time, this nosedive in relative value will be exacerbated by the fact that the majority of Gulf firms are firing, not hiring.
During the economic boom, we could just about handle a depreciating currency if it came hand-in-hand with wage rises. And the Gulf was all about wage rises — it was, after all, the only way to keep staff in such a competitive, high-growth market.
Today, half of Gulf residents are watching their pay packets dwindle when set against their home currencies. The other half is packing their bags as the slowdown in growth impacts bottom lines. This time around, demands to drop the dollar peg are likely to be louder, and more urgent.
It’s going to be a long, hot summer for central banks.
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The global language monitor last week announced that ‘Web 2.0’′ has become the millionth English word or phrase added to the language, as it has crossed from technical jargon into far wider circulation in the last few months.
Now I’m not going to argue that Web 2.0, a technical term meaning the next generation of internet products and services, doesn’t deserve its place in the lexicon. It’s a 21st century concept, and we’re told that it will change the way we work, the way we play, the way we live.
The problem is, it doesn’t have a soul. It’s a phrase cooked up in a lab and means-tested to within an inch of its life. It’s a technical note, a Silicon Valley soundbyte that may change our lives, but will never roll off the tongue.
Isn’t it a shame that such a milestone in the development of the English language should be marked by such an ugly monument? And on top of that, there’s always the sneaking suspicion that if we have a Web 2.0, then ‘Web 3.0’ is surely just around the corner. Bill Gates is probably using it already.
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As I write, Paris Hilton is sparking a minor media meltdown in Dubai. A press and marketing frenzy has descended, and Emirates Airline is already doing pretty well — one analyst has predicted that Paris’s gushing endorsement of the carrier’s first class suites may be worth $3m in free PR.
On the flipside, one local nightclub is feeling the sharp end of Paris’s Twitter page. Upon touching down in the UAE, she has vehemently denied that she is set to appear at the launch of a new hotspot that has been charging punters $55 a ticket on the promise of “the party of the year”.
La Hilton is fuming — you don’t protect a multimillion-dollar brand by allowing others a free ride — and her Twitter postings have been increasingly irate. Not all publicity is good publicity, it seems.
Andrew White is the editor of Arabian Business English.
