- cringing at the exchange rate -

jeni and i were talking about financial matters when she told me that the current PH peso to US dollar exchange rate is at 48.65 Php = 1 USD ... according to the news, this may be the "highest in nearly 6 years" (http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view_article.php?article_id=40440).

i'm supposed to rejoice, right?... because this is an "indicator" that my country's economy is improving .. doing well, even ...

contrary to the expected reaction, i cringed at the news and then i got pissed ... i don't know if i'm pissed because my "alkansya" is in USd or because the numbers were terribly misleading ... farfar, cheribee and i discussed this over lunch and there were two nagging questions -
1. are the lives of the poor/middle-class citizens actually getting better? *the lives of the affluent are better already so i don't really care about them*
2. are the prices of commodities getting lower?

i'm guessing that the answers would be a big NO ... so much for having an "indicator" ...