Rupee fall a blessing in disguise for Indian expats

The falling rupee has come as a blessing in disguise for thousands of Indian expatriates working overseas as it happened during the festival season. Many Indians, especially, blue collar workers were thrilled that the rupee fall coincided with Eid al Adha and that they could send more money back home as Omani rials fetched more Indian currency. “The extra money I received from the currency dip has been a big advantage as it happened during the festival”, said Mohmed Ali, a salesman. He said he was happy that the same amount of transaction in rial to India would result in a larger amount of rupees. Jose Meleth, an engineer, said that the additional money that he received from the remittance would be given to the victims of floods in the south Indian state of Kerala. The Indian currency seemed to have turned extremely volatile against the US dollar in the last few days after the uncertainty over emerging market currencies soared. Remitters get better value in rupee terms, be it Omani rial, US dollar, British pound or any other currency, said Madhusoodanan, General Manager, Global Money Exchange. “The rupee currently trading in the range of $70.50 to $70 is likely to be range bound in the very short-term”, he said. According to him, the benchmark is likely to depreciate further, with a trade above 71.50 plus due to multiple reasons — both domestic and international. The rupee suffered sharp losses against the US dollar on August 5 amid a turmoil in both global equity and currency markets. The rupee fell to 70.74 against the US dollar — its biggest one-day fall in nearly six years. The sentiments with regard to Indian rupee battered further, possibly, after the government moved ahead to remove the special status of Jammu and Kashmir revoking Article 370. Following the development, the market participants factored in spiralled up volatility in the domestic currency due to the worries of temporary political unrest in the nation. India being a major importer of gold, the jump in gold price may adversely affect the rupee. “The movement in gold, decline in the crude oil prices, government decision on foreign portfolio investment tax, stand on Kashmir issue by the international community in the coming days, etc will give directions on movement of the currency in the coming days”, Madhusoodanan said.