Is this the best time for Indians to remit money?

DUBAI: Remittances to India have picked up sharply in recent days as the Indian currency continues its free fall.

On May 30, the Indian rupee stood at 18.37 against the UAE dirham. Exchange houses said they expect a big rush in the coming week as salaries get credited.

Sharp increase

“Remittances to India have gone up by 8-10 per cent in the last two weeks and we expect a further rise in the days ahead as this is also the time when people send money back home for Eid,” said Sudhir Shetty, president, UAE Exchange.

Shetty said it’s largely Indian expats with mid and high income who benefit every time the rupee dips. “Blue collar workers make up for most of our customers but they are hardly able to take advantage of the falling rates as they remit money at the start of the month regardless of currency fluctuations,” he said.

Promoth Manghat, CEO, UAE Exchange Group said the Indian rupee is likely to weaken further “The current dip is due to rising yields on US Treasury and increase in global oil prices. Looking at the current market scenario, we expect the rupee to depreciate further, unless the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifts interest rates to combat rising inflation,” he said.

Adeeb Ahamed, managing director, LuLu Financial Group said other currencies including the Euro and Pound have been hit by rising oil prices. Expats remittances from the UAE amounted to Dh164.3 billion in 2017, a growth of 2.2 per cent from Dh160.8 billion in 2016.

According to UAE Central Bank, a staggering Dh121.66 billion was transferred to India through money exchange firms while the rest went through banks.

India was the top recipient of remittances from the UAE in the last quarter of 2017, receiving 34.2% of the overall amount remitted from the country.