Wealthy Indian expats in UAE capitalise on falling rupee

DUBAI: Wealthy Indian migrants are flocking to money exchanges to take advantage of the continued decline of the Indian rupee against the US dollar, exchange houses and currency specialists have claimed.

The number of transactions from either the UAE dirham or the US dollar into the Indian rupee has increased almost 187 percent in the past 50 days.

However, experts believe that the sudden depreciation of the Indian currency does not usually benefit the low-income or blue-collar workers who comprise the large segment of the remitting population in the UAE, Gulfnews reports.

Sudhir Shetty, chief operating officer of UAE Exchange, said that they have noticed an increase in transactions from the middle to high-income bracket. "In the last week or so, we have seen increased activity happening in the large-ticket segment. These are from people who send money for investments rather than domestic commitments," Shetty said.

Sobia Rahman, Western Union regional vice president for Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Gulf, said that many people depend on remittance as a critical source of income and migrant workers will continue sending money home, regardless of the exchange rate. Savings

"Studies have shown that remittances are resilient and often counter-cyclical. On the other hand, some expatriates with regular savings in the UAE may consider sending their savings to benefit from the better exchange rate," she added.