Monday, August 24, 2026

AMERICAN PARADOX-HOW AMERICA RULES THE WORLD WITH GROSS NATIONAL DEBT OF $40 TRILLION ?

Latest US Gross National Debt has reached a figure of $ 40 Trillion. Yet, the US Dollar remains the king among all currencies, and still the world keeps buying US Bonds.Because,there is a feeling that America cannot default, as it borrows in a currency it prints.Net interest consumes 15% of all Federal spending.  India has  a debt of Rs.200.53 lakh crores ($2174.6 billion approx.).India's Total Forex reserves amounts to $700.7 billion as on August,7, 2026(RBI Data) & ranks 4th in the world in Forex reserves just behind China,Japan & Switzerland..India can comfortably repay its foreign debt as India is set to grow at a minimum rate of 6% GDP  growth.The good News is ,India projected to have 10.8 crore affluent consumers by 2036,marginally surpassing China's 10.3 crores,according to the latest  findings by NielsenIQ and World Data Lab.The report also separately estimates that India has 64.9 crore "Core Consumers"in 2026, defined as people spending between $13 & $90 a day.Yet, India is not in top major foreign currencies when compared to  USdollar,Euro,Pound & Sterling,Japanese Yen,Chinese Renminbi,Canadian dollar & Switzerland Francs. 

US Dollar is the world's  primary reserve currency making about 57% of all allocated  global foreign exchange reserves tracked by IMF. The other currencies are Euro: 20% of global reserves,Japanese Yen: 5.8% of global reserves,British Pound (GBP) :4.4% of global reserves & Chinese Renminbi (RMB) : 2% of Global reserves. India is no where in the picture.

US has a population of 349.2 million & India has a population  of around 1.4 billion. Hence,India has a huge consuming market with a strong middle class.Infact, we need not depend on exports as internal consumption itself can take care of  products manufactured within the country. However, we promote exports to earn the Dollar & the government gives more incentives to promote exports. Hence, there is a feeling amongst the experts that the government should think of more out of box ideas to strengthen the rupee, reduce the imports except for Crude Oil,Gas & fertilizer and others which are most critical. The strength of the country is determined by how strong their currency is.Most of the  Indians go abroad to earn in Dollars /Euros & Dhirams so that they get more value in rupees, because the rupee is weak. Even currencies like Singapore dollar (Rs.74.59)&Malaysian Ringgit (Rs.23.19) are stronger than Indian Rupee.

Case for Rupee being for Global Reserve status: India has a large domestic market diversified production base and expanding trade links strengthen the case for greater INR usage.From Financial angle,macro economic stability & sustainable growth and the depth & liquidity of domestic financial markets  are critical  for any currency aspiring to be a Reserve status currency. Further, full capital account convertibility is associated with reserve currencies.India follows a calibrated & partial approach to capital account liberalisation.

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