ABU DHABI // In the wake of the Indian rupee’s depreciation this week, many Indian expatriates remitted money and some even took out personal loans.
The dirham has been trading above 18 rupees in the past seven days.
The rupee’s recent slump as expats were getting their monthly wages meant that Indian expats in the UAE got better value for their money – particularly low-income workers.
The rupee, which was valued at between 10 and 11 rupees against the dirham in 2009 and 2010, was trading at 18.19 rupees against the dirham on Monday, and it edged up to 18.11 rupees on Tuesday.
For a worker who earns less than Dh1,000 a month, the rupee’s depreciation was a valuable opportunity, as Dh1,000 fetched more than 18,000 rupees.
“At the end of every month I have to transfer money to my family in India. If the exchange rates are good, nothing is better than that,” said Shahid Ali, an Indian worker.
“Our salaries are very low and I need to send at least 10,000 to 11,000 rupees home each month to finance their expenses. The rest I spend here, which could be about Dh300.”
Mr Ali said his monthly wage was Dh900.
“Because of good exchange rates I can send more money to India. But poor rates affect our budget at both ends [in India and in the UAE],” he said.
Another Indian expat, Krishna Mittal, said he would be remitting money to India in a couple of days because of the attractive exchange rates.
“I heard that we get 18.15 rupees [for a dirham on Monday]. This is good for us,” said the Abu Dhabi-based fisherman who earns Dh1,500 a month.
“Few thousand more rupees due to fluctuating conversion rates is good money for us because it buys plenty of stuff back home,” added the native of Gujarat state.
Foreign-exchange houses said the rupee might further decline because of global economic uncertainties, adding that this was a good time for Indian expats to enjoy a higher exchange rate for their dirhams.
“The weakening rupee could be attractive for expatriates, but those who live in India may face the worst because of the rising cost of living,” said Abdus Salam, an operations manager at Al Badar Exchange in Abu Dhabi.
In late August, India’s stock market fell to a seven-year low, and many Indian expats in the UAE took out personal loans and deposited the money in Indian banks, said Mr Salam.
“We have also seen some people remitting huge amounts,” he said.
Mr Salam added that the rupee could decline further or hover between 17 and 19 rupees against the dirham in the first quarter of next year.
The falling value of the rupee “indicates the slow economic performance of Indian financial markets”, he said.
Many Indians sought personal loans to then deposit the money in Indian banks that offer interest rates up to 10 per cent. Sharief Khan, an electrical engineer, said many people were taking personal loans to benefit from the current rupee-dirham exchange rate.
“I took some loans a month back to buy properties back home. I hold the money and keep monitoring the market trends.
“When I get good conversion rates I remit it,” he said.
“It’s easy to get personal loans here at very good rates but it’s very difficult in India, and interest rates are very high.”
Mr Salam advised people to carefully consider taking personal loans, but he also said that now was the right time to take out loans to benefit from the favourable exchange rate.
anwar@thenational.ae
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Austrian Grand Prix race timings
Weekend schedule for Austrian Grand Prix - all timings UAE
Friday
Noon-1.30pm First practice
4-5.30pm Second practice
Saturday
1-2pm Final practice
4pm Qualifying
Sunday
4pm Austrian Grand Prix (71 laps)
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Specs
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Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
