This surge could largely be attributed to the Emirates’ sizable proportion of white-collar Indian workers.
There was a beeline of people at Al Ansari exchange in Al Quoz Mall, after the Indian rupee’s value against dirhams touched 20.07 on Friday. The Indian community in the UAE was seen making the best of the situation by remitting funds back home as the rupee continued to fall against the dirhams.
Ahmed Sharif, who works for a construction company in Dubai, said: “I had received my salary but could not send money home as I was caught up with work. I am glad I did not send it earlier. This afternoon I was told by a friend that I will be able to send more money home now as the rupee has touched 20. I am very happy that I will send around Rs6,000 more to my family this month”.
Equally busy was the UAE Exchange at the Spring Souk. This surge could largely be attributed to the Emirates’ sizable proportion of white-collar Indian workers.
“It’s an opportune time to send money therefore, I am here. The 20-dirham barrier has been breached. However, I think the weakness in Indian currency will continue to last in the short run considering the slow economic growth, the global supply chain disruption caused by Coronavirus and the meltdown in Indian equity markets led by the banking sector,” said Deb Kumar, a finance professional.
Ratish Ramachandran, who works in the HVAC sector and hails from Chennai, said: “The rupee touching 20, is a blessing for the NRIs. I am trying to maximise the remittance to India to build savings back home. It’s also a good time because it’s the first week of the month and we can plan our salaries and expenditures. We must leverage the plunge in the Indian rupee.”
With Indian banks are offering higher interest rates on non-resident deposits, a wave of funds is flowing back to the home country via banks and money-transfer agencies.
Money exchange houses are cashing in on the extra remittance flows, which has increased in the last few weeks. “This has caused increased remittance activity and we are witnessing a surge in footfall from Indian expats,” said a money exchange executive on conditions of anonymity. “The cash flow is coming from the middle income and higher income groups. It is the upper and middle income groups that have disposable income and patient funds reservoir to take advantage of the situation.”
