Just looking at Pakistan's currency story over the past 77 years and it's actually wild how much the rupee has depreciated against the dollar. Back in 1947 when the country was founded, you could get 3.31 rupees per dollar. That rate stayed pretty much frozen for about 8 years, which is interesting when you think about the economic controls back then.

But then things started moving. By 1955 it had shifted to 3.91, and through the 60s and early 70s it was hovering around 4.76. The real acceleration kicked in around 1972 when it jumped to 11 PKR per dollar. From there it just kept weakening - by 1989 you needed over 20 rupees, and by 2000 it was already at 51.90.

The depreciation really picked up pace in the last decade or so. In 2015 it was around 105 rupees per dollar, then 2018 hit 139, and 2019 jumped to 163. By 2020 we're at 168, and then 2022-2023 saw massive drops - 240 and then 286 respectively. Right now in 2024 it's sitting around 277 PKR to 1 USD. That's an 83x depreciation from independence. Pretty telling chart of currency pressure and inflation over nearly 8 decades.