Dubai: The Indian rupee continued to weaken on Tuesday, hitting above 19 per UAE dirham for the first time on early trade.
The Asian currency fell to its lowest level of 19.04 against the dirham as of 9.51am, according to FxExchangeRate.com. At the same time, it hit a record low of 70.07 to a US dollar.
And with the rupee still under pressure, foreign exchange watchers can expect further declines over the coming months, with the currency forecast to slump to 72 to a dollar.
Money transfer operators in UAE, however, were trading the rupee for 18.97 versus the UAE currency as of Tuesday morning, which means Indian expatriates can get 18,970 rupees for every Dh1,000 sent.
The rupee has been on a downward trend for months now and the latest drop has been due to the crisis in Turkey. The decline in the Turkish lira has put emerging market currencies under pressure.
According to Sudhesh Giriyan, COO of Xpress Money, the rupee is likely to tumble further in the coming months and touch 71 to 72 against the American currency.
“The political unrest in [Turkey] has put the emerging market currencies under pressure, which is why we are witnessing this sudden decline,” he told Gulf News.
“In addition, there are increasing concerns in the market regarding the widening trade deficit of India, which has added to the pressure on the foreign exchange reserves of the country. The rupee is subject to fall further in the coming months and may hit the 71-72 mark against the dollar.”
