Philippines peso goes up against dirham - OFWs should not delay sending July funds

Dubai:  At 15.38 to a dirham, Filipino expats in the UAE will be getting exchange rates better than what they had at the start of the last two months.

With their next remittance cycle starting, OFWs would do well to send funds at the first opportunity itself, according to local currency exchange house officials. “The dollar’s been dropping and that could lead to a further tightening up of the dirham-peso exchange rate,” said an official.

“At 15.38 to one AED, that’s still better than the 15.18 OFWs got on June 1 and the 15.21 on May 1. But the signs suggest there could be more weakening of the dollar in the days ahead. So, realistically, the best option based on what we are seeing is not to delay fund transfers.”

In fact, on June 23, the AED-peso exchange rate had been at 15.61, and in the days just before that had ranged between 15.45-15.51.  But even at 15.38, the rates are favourable for OFWs, say remittance industry sources. “The peso was trading 15.1-15.2 for the better part of the last 30 days – so, 15.3 is quite good,” the source added.

The dollar index – which tracks dollar gains/losses against major currencies – is down again today to 96.81 and well below on the 99 plus levels at the start of last week. But in another 3 days or so, the dollar started showing weakness all over again. And that’s been on display at the start of this week too, despite the US passing the latest budget bill and US markets shooting back to new highs after trade deals being confirmed.