Dubai: The Philippine peso has dropped to one of its lowest levels against the UAE dirham on Thursday, as the US dollar soared against many major currencies.
The American greenback, to which the UAE dirham is pegged, surged to 51.48 against the Asian currency.
A weak peso is a boon to many expatriates working in the UAE, as it means higher remittance power. The stronger the US dollar, the more foreign workers can gain and send money home.
As of 2pm, the UAE dirham stood at 14.00389 against the Philippine currency, up by 0.6 per cent from October 11. It is one of the best exchange rates this year and could trigger a surge in remittance transactions among expatriates.
“The Philippine peso has lost some momentum against the dollar recently, and by extension against the UAE dirham. This is good news because each dirham sent home buys more Philippine peso,” said Sudhesh Giriyan, COO of Xpress Money.
“We can expect overseas Filipinos to take advantage of the favourable exchange rates to send more money home.”
Global remittances by expatriates from the Philippines reached $20.7 billion (Dh76 billion) in the last eight months, and a huge chunk of that came from the UAE.
According to the Philippine’s central bank, the amount of money remitted by Filipinos back home continued to rise in August 2017, posting a 9.4 per cent year-on-year growth.
Workers from the UAE are among the biggest contributors, with the bulk of cash transfers originating from the emirates, as well as from Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Kuwait, Germany and Hong Kong.
