Stronger dollar cheers up Asians
The gaining dollar has brought cheer to Asian residents. As the Qatari riyal is pegged to the greenback, residents sending funds home will get more bang for their buck.
The strengthening of the riyal has largely benefited Indian and Pakistani residents. A riyal bought 11.83 Indian rupees yesterday against less than 10 earlier this year. A Qatari riyal (QR) bought 19.99 Pakistani rupees yesterday, 12.27 Philippine pesos and 29.45 Sri Lankan rupees.
The gaining dollar has come as a big relief to residents who are earning in riyals. A weaker dollar and high inflation had been hurting residents for long.
The Indian rupee has been appreciating against the Qatari currency for quite some time due to the constant eroding of the dollar.
The Indian currency touched a nine-year high against the riyal, placing considerable pressure on residents. The rupee peaked at 10.70 to a riyal in the local forex market in April 2007.
Enquires with various exchange houses revealed the rate of remittances to Asian countries has registered a significant increase over the last two weeks.
"Remittances to India and Pakistan are going up but we are not sure how long the trend will persists," Dheeraj Ramshaal, an executive with the UAE Exchange, told The Peninsula.
"These are the days residents get a better rate. Hence, there is a heavy rush for instant and bank-to-bank trades. The present rate is certainly attractive enough for Asian residents. The high rate of instant and bank-to-bank transactions is a pointer to this," he said.
However, a section of the Filipino community here is not excited by the soaring dollar. "When I arrived in Qatar two years ago, the exchange rate was 55 pesos against the dollar, now it is around 44 pesos.
The amount of money I send to my family in the Philippines monthly has gone down, but prices of commodities both in Qatar and the Philippines are going up. Everybody is affected," said Randy Leyba, a Filipino resident.
The Pen
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