Expats in Oman await salary to take advantage of strong exchange rates

Muscat: Indian and Philippine expats are awaiting their salaries so that they can send more money back home to take advantage of the ongoing positive exchange rates.
The rupee exchange rates stood at Rs 176.9 and the Philippine peso (Php) at 124.03 vs OMR1 on Thursday. “I am waiting for my salary to remit money,” said Sudhakar Rao, an Indian expat.
Some Indians are even planning to take loans from banks here to close liabilities back home. “I bought an apartment in 2005 in Kerala with a housing loan of Rs2 million from a nationalised bank. As we are getting the best value for the rupee these days, I am thinking of clearing the loan,” says Pradeep Kumar, a sales executive working in Muscat.
The US dollar has been going upward, pushing the value of the Omani Rial against a number of currencies even higher.
A higher Rial can mean bigger remittance volumes for Oman-based expatriates. “This is a good time for people to remit money home because the rates are at their best,” confirmed an official of money exchange in Ruwi.
He also revealed more white-collar workers were also remitting cash, a practice most common among blue-collar Asian workers to meet their family expenditures back home. “We expect this to go up in the first week of February when everybody gets their salary,” the official said.
“I am waiting for my salary, which will come either on Sunday or on Monday,” said Ritu Bhattacharjee, who wanted to remit a large sum last month, but decided to wait for another month. “Thank God I waited and now I will be able to get more money,” she said.