To non-suspecting members of the public, this catchy headline represented deep thinking; it gives the impression that the Business Daily leadership is thoughtful of the fact that of the IMF stand-by facility lapses, as it now seems, the Kenya shilling will be vulnerable.
That could well be the case, as some of us have argued so in the past. Even though the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) seems to argue that it has sufficient foreign exchange reserves to "defend" the local unit, there is limit beyond which inevitability of depreciation will come.
For those of us who engage in policy research and discourse, the Business Daily is yet again engaging in feigned thought leadership - I have called its editorial pages being a platform for intellectual pretence.
Why do I say so? Because in mid August, the same newspaper that now deeply concerned about the possibility of foreign exchange instability in the event of the IMF facility lapsing had an editorial to the effect that we may well not need that facility! Oh, I forget; somebody must write stuff that - even when making little sense - can sell a newspaper.
That is why for instance, there is an editorial in its pages today to the effect that interest rates capping law - a misguided peace of legislation - is working now that banks are making profits ( a nonsensical argument) while a while back the same pages argued that it was a hasty policy no good for the economy.
It is not that they saw any sense; it is because at that point in time, the Nation Media Group's back was against the wall as its television station had been shut by Government. Now that it is on, it is back to the usual business of taking leave of all logic and donning the feigned thought leadership hat!
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