Dollar's recent resurgence thrills UAE expatriates

Dubai: Expatriates around the UAE began taking advantage of the dollar hitting a six-month high last Tuesday by buying gold and sending extra money back home.

German expatriate, Markus Stebich, said: "I've noticed a very positive rise in the strength of the US dollar, from the European perspective."

As the dollar is linked to the euro, when the dollar gets stronger the exchange rate is lowered. So the stronger the dollar, the more costs go down in Europe for people who earn in the US currency.

He said: "I have many costs and expenses in euros, and now that the dollar is stronger, my expenses have gone down and I am saving more money.

"Even though the rise is not very much, every little change helps, because when the dollar decreases in value, it hurts business."

Haluk Camcigal, from Turkey, agrees that the strengthening of the dollar is a pleasant development.

"I have noticed a great change in the strength of the dollar, it is at a six-month high right now," he said.

However, unlike Stebich, it hasn't affected his earnings or expenses in a large way.

"It hasn't impacted my budget at all yet, but if it does go higher then I may have to adjust my expenditures. I don't think I will have to though, because this seems like a temporary thing," he said.

Not only are people enjoying the sudden rise in strength of the dollar, they are also hoping it will last.

"I am definitely hoping for the dollar to get even stronger, and I'm expecting this rise to last," said Sheryl Salvador, an expatriate from the Philippines.

"There has definitely been a change, but I don't send home more money than what I usually do. However the resurgence of the dollar is a very nice change, and I am able to save more money for the future," she said.

Aravindakshan P.G. Kurup, an Indian expatriate, appreciates how the strengthening of the dollar has lowered the gold rate. He said: "The rise in the dollar has really helped me because it affected the exchange rate and the gold rate in a very positive direction.

"The dollar's new strength against other currencies increased my capacity to purchase more gold among other things."

Kurup, who sends money back home every month, said: "When the dollar was depreciating, I had to cut down the amount of money I was sending to my family by nearly 50 per cent, which was very bad because my family was depending on me.

"Now that it has risen I can add even more to the original amount I send back home."