Weaker dollar leaves UAE expats short of cash on remittance counters

Beginning of the month, and you’d expect UAE expats to be queuing up at the counters of the numerous currency exchange houses in the country to remit a part of their freshly-arrived salaries back home.

This week, however, a number of expats – notably from India and the Philippines – seem to be in no rush, with remittance counters at exchange houses not sporting the long queues that are rote at this time of the month.

Why? Blame the weaker US dollar.

This weekend, Indian expats got an exchange rate of just Rs14.19 for every dirham they remitted. That’s a far cry from the Rs15+ exchange rate that they got accustomed to over the past few months. The rupee has strengthened more than 8 per cent over the past quarter.

One UAE dirham – which has a straight peg to the US dollar – fetched up to 15.55 Indian rupees about three months ago. Even this time last month, the dollar was strong enough to command an international exchange rate of Dh1 = Rs15.25.