NRIs to send more money as rupee hits record low

Oman Monday 09/May/2022 21:08 PM
By: Times News Service
NRIs to send more money as rupee hits record low

Muscat: Currency houses in Oman are offering rates of more than INR200 per Omani Rial, as the Indian Rupee crossed the watershed mark to reach its highest-ever exchange rate.

As of Monday, 9 May, online currency converter XE valued a single Omani Rial at INR201.5, and exchange house bosses in Oman say the exchange rate for the Omani Rial is going to go up even further over the next few days, a development that is surely good news for Indian nationals in Oman who are looking to send money to their friends and family back home.

“The volume of exchanges has definitely increased over the last few days,” said Amit Talukder, general manager for Global Money Exchange, which is offering rates of INR200.7 per Omani Rial. “Customers who were holding on to money in their accounts have been taking advantage of these record high rates to send money home.”

“We actually expect the rates to rise a little bit more over the coming days,” he added. “However, in the past, we have observed that whenever rates reach such levels, a huge inflow of currency takes place, which brings down the rates after a couple of days.”

Talukder pointed to several factors influencing the exchange rate, namely, the aggressive rate hike of 50 basis points by the US Federal Reserve that resulted in a surge in US Treasury yield, leading to a global strengthening of the US Dollar, which consequently exacerbated weaknesses in Asian currencies; the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict that has led to a jump in global oil prices and negatively impacted the outlook of the Indian Rupee; the weakness in the domestic equity market; and the sales of Indian assets by overseas investors.

“The Reserve Bank of India is also taking measures to support the Rupee, by implementing a rate hike over the previous week,” he added.

Furthermore, KJ Prabu, the general manager of Mustafa Sultan Exchange, added that he expected the exchange rate to climb by about one or two more Rupees in the coming days.

“Another main reason for this is that there are speculations of COVID-19 in China once again, because of which cities may be locked down,” he admitted. “This uncertainty over future developments is also bringing up the exchange rates for certain currencies.

“Add to that the increase in oil prices because of the issues between Russia and Ukraine, and you can see why the rate has increased,” he added. “India is after all a net importer of oil.”

A representative of another exchange house added: “The current exchange rate between the Omani Rial and Indian Rupee is the highest we have ever seen,” said an official from an exchange house in Muscat. “We were offering morning exchange rates of INR200.5 per Omani Rial. “The actual rate on Monday afternoon went up slightly, so on Tuesday, the exchange rate we offer to customers might be even higher,” he added.