Remittances go up due to strong dollar

Dubai: Remittance outflows from the UAE have increased by 12 to 18 per cent due to the recent strengthening of the dollar against most world currencies, exchange services said on Thursday.

Remittance flows have jumped mostly to Asian countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, the Philippines and Bangla-desh.

"All the expatriates earning in dirhams are gaining," said Sudhir Kumar Shetty, chief operating officer of UAE Exchange.

"What is happening is all currencies have weakened against the dollar and because the dirham is pegged to the dollar, those currencies have weakened against the dirham as well so everyone sending money to those countries stands to gain. People get more rupees, for instance, for every dirham they send," he said.

Regional vice president of Western Union, Jean Claude Farah, said the dollar began strengthening very recently but he did anticipate an increase in remittance flows in the coming months.

"Going forward we are going to see more transactions, if there is a direction for remittance to go, it is definitely up," he said.