Indian expats in UAE worried

Indian expats in the UAE are expected to see a dip in their savings as the Indian rupee gets stronger and interest rates in India increase further. Exchange rate of one Dirham slid below the Rupees12 psychological barrier last week, discomfiting the Indian community which was coming to grips with the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) sharp interest rate hike by 50 basis points. "This would affect borrowers, especially those who have home loans, because [repayments] or equated monthly instalments (EMIs) will go up due to the hike in interest rates. Also, higher remittances have to be made to take into account the strengthening of the rupee," Debajyoti Ray Chaudhuri, Chief Executive Officer of State Bank of India in Dubai, told local media. According to V.K. Bhatia, Chief Manager of the Representative Office of the Punjab National Bank (PNB) in Dubai, many low-income Indians will be left with less to send back to their families back home as rupee gets stronger. "Most NRIs are holding back their money to make use of a better exchange rate which resulted in considerable reduction in the remittances business. However, usual remittances to meet monthly expenses and liabilities are happening as they were," S. Karunakaran, Additional General Manager and Head, Business Development, Al Rostamani International Exchange, said.