Just went down a rabbit hole looking at Pakistan's currency history and it's actually wild 👇



So back in 1947 when Pakistan was founded, 1 USD was worth just 3.31 PKR. Things stayed pretty stable for years - literally the same rate until the mid-50s. Then you see it creep up to 4.76 PKR and it basically held there for like 15 years.

But here's where it gets interesting. From the 1970s onwards, the rupee just started bleeding value. By 1989 it was already at 20.54 PKR per dollar. Then the 90s hit and it accelerated - went from 23.80 in 1991 to 51.90 by 2000. That's a massive shift in just a decade.

The real collapse though? 2008 onwards. 1 USD jumped to 81.18 PKR, and it never looked back. By 2019 we're talking 163.75 PKR, and in 2023 it hit 286 PKR. The 1 USD to PKR conversion has basically tripled since the 2000s.

It's a pretty stark visual of what decades of inflation and currency pressure looks like. From 1947 to 2023, the purchasing power just evaporated. Makes you think about why people in emerging markets always talk about getting into assets that hold value.
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