A senior official of an exchange house told Gulf Times that as much as 60% of transactions last Monday were made by Indian expatriates.
“The volume of transactions last Monday in our exchange was almost four times higher than the normal daily average. At least 60% of remittances were sent to India, and 20% were sent to the Philippines; another 20% comprised of other countries put together,” he explained while observing that "high transaction activities” are expected to continue throughout the week.
Another exchange house said many people flocked to their shop in the afternoon and had to extend operating hours to cater to the volume of customers.
“We had to work for an extra hour just to accommodate the large number of people that were sending remittances. Unofficially, we extended business hours in the evening for that day,” a senior manager said, adding that exact figures and the volume of transactions will be clearer by the end of the week.
An exchange house official also said there was only “a slight increase” in the volume of remittance outflow from Qatar from January to May 2017 compared to the same period in 2016.
“There was only a slight increase in the first five months of 2017 compared to the same period last year although we were able to reach the same level of business this year,” he pointed out.
In the first week of Ramadan, transactions to the Arab corridor were “10% to 15% less” compared to the same period last year due to “many factors,” he also said.
A senior official of an exchange house said that as much as 60% of transactions last Monday were made by Indian expatriates.
Exchange houses in Doha recorded on Monday a spike in outward remittances, and they are expecting “high transaction activities” to continue this week, according to industry sources.
