Do something to rescue plunging dollar

THE EDITOR, Sir:

DO SOMETHING, Mr Prime Minister! You seem to lack care with regard to the fall, nearly weekly, of the Jamaican dollar.

The Jamaican dollar is on a spiralling downswing. Never in our history has Jamaica seen its currency depreciate so rapidly. Are we heading for the situation that was Spain in 1991-1992, or are we descending into the chaos that is currently haunting Turkey?

Recently, Jamaicans have watched with alarm the Jamaican dollar drop by $6 of its local value in one week. The dollar continues to slide, and now it is at some $136. At this rate, the Jamaican dollar trading against the US dollar will certainly be sold for $140 before Christmas.

The prime minister and his finance minister continue to give stupid responses that cannot explain how the poor masses will survive amid this plunge in the value of the Jamaican dollar.

In my opinion, the dollar’s depreciation is manipulated by big-business interests.

A depreciated dollar is affecting nearly everyone, except the rich and upper middle class. All other classes are under pressure. In a society with 90 per cent of raw materials imported, a fall in the dollar can only make life more miserable.

Do better than that, Prime Minister! Jamaicans await a better answer. We are not fools. Do not take us for granted. MAURICE CHRISTIE Clarksonville, St Ann