Indian rupee gains against dirham - what should NRIs do when sending money?

Dubai: Indian expats in the UAE and other Gulf markets will be getting less if sending money home today, with the rupee firming up against the dirham to 23.44 from 23.61.

This comes after the dollar weakened slightly as President Trump announced an Israel-Iran ceasefire. The dollar had been treading higher ever since the start of hostilities on June 14, after a prolonged spell of weakness against major currencies.

With the end-of-month salaries due to roll into bank accounts, Gulf’s NRIs will do well to send only what they need to as their next remittance, say FX industry sources.  

All through the last 30 days, the INR had been at 23.1-23.3 levels to the dirham, which is why the drop in value from June 14 opened up opportunities for Indian expat remitters.

Today's sudden spike in the rupee is a huge 'disappointment' for Gulf's Indian expats.

“Any confirmation of the Trump ceasefire could soften up the dollar further – and firm up currencies such as the INR and the Philippines peso,” said Neelesh Gopalan, Treasury Manager at a Dubai remittance fintech.

Indian expats in the Gulf had used the rupee’s drop to send in as much of available funds as possible in the last week and more. These remittance volumes were higher than the average seen in the second-half of a month, currency exchange house officials said.

According to FX sources, if a ceasefire takes hold, then the dollar is unlikely to get the influx of support that was there when the Israel-Iran hostilities broke out.

Today, the dollar index is trading at 97.7 against the 98/99 levels of recent days. This in a nutshell explains why the INR has firmed up all of a sudden.