Oman Daily Observer

INR hits ‘double century’, edges above 200/RO for first time

- KABEER YOUSUF @kabeeryous­ef

Indian Rupee has hit an alltime low as one Rial was valued at INR 200.70 on Monday. The money exchanges did relatively good business but failed to fetch customers as desired owing to many reasons.

The key factor driving the Rupee lower was a surge in the US dollar globally.

Crude prices are elevating to around $110 per barrel, which added further pressure on the Rupee. In addition to this, a forecast of 10 per cent inflation by the Bank of England and a tightening lockdown in Shanghai has also had Asian currencies depreciate against the Dollar.

People were welcomed to messages reading “INR hits a double century. Remit now and be part of this golden opportunit­y’ since Monday morning and were invited to even competitiv­e rates by different money exchanges. However, that failed to bring in as many customers as expected due to major festivals in the past few weeks.

“The good news for businesses in the Sultanate of Oman is that exports to India and imports from

India are at an all-time high. This could help the businesses in Oman importing from India as well the exporters back in India,” said KJ Prabu, General Manager, Mustafa Sultan Exchange.

It is evaluated that Indian Rupee hovering over 200 against one

Omani Rial can be a good incentive for Non-resident Indians as well. This is also a favourable time to plan investment­s in reliable assets, while investment­s in liquidity can be held for a while.

Expat Indians in the Sultanate of Oman, who celebrated many festivals in the recent past, including Eid al Fitr, Easter, and Diwali, couldn’t convert their savings into INR. Those who believed in Akshaya Tritiya had already invested their money in gold last week.

“Actually Dollar appreciate­d for many reasons,” said sources from Al Jadeed Exchange.

Prabu said that the exchange, managed by India’s largest bank, the State Bank of India, is very well equipped to handle this increased demand and has always been the case during such episodes in the past.

“We are witnessing a large number of customers and volumes to India, he added.

“The major reasons behind such a change is due to RBI increase in the repo rate to reduce the inflation, and also US Federal increased the interest rates. This has resulted in an increase in the volume of business due to the rate changes, said Supin James,

Country Manager, Purushotha­m Khanji Exchange.

“Volume has definitely increased over the past few days. Customers who were holding amounts in their accounts have started sending at record-high rates. However, not many new customers were witnessed yet,” said Rajeev, Global Exchange.

According to him, the reasons for a weakening Rupee are manifold. The aggressive rate hike by Federal Reserve (USA) by 50 basis points has resulted in a surge in the US treasury yield. Due to which Dollar has strengthen­ed globally.

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