Weak rupee offers a window of remittance opportunity for Indian expats in UAE

Weak rupee offers a window of remittance opportunity for Indian expats in UAE

Dubai: Indian rupee fell for the fourth consecutive day against the UAE dirham on Friday with an intra-day low of 20.38. The rupee's decline against the dirham is a reflection of the decline of the Indian currency's fall against the US dollar on which the UAE currency is pegged. The Indian rupee lost 19 paise on Friday to close 74.74 against the greenback as a firm dollar and expectations of further spike in crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment. Over the past week the rupee has lost 55 paise. Looking ahead the rupee is likely to remain under pressure on rising crude prices and relative strength of the dollar in the forex markets. India relies on imported crude for 80 per cent of its needs, which mean that domestic inflation is sensitive to changes in the price of global crude oil benchmarks. Increases in Brent oil prices have a negative impact on India's terms of trade and by extension, the strength of the rupee. India's foreign exchange reserves stood at $598 billion at the end of May 2021, equivalent to 17 months of imports. The current weakness of rupee is largely linked to the delay in OPEC+ decision on