The Indian rupee on Tuesday afternoon weakened to 19.81 against the UAE dirham.

The currency opened four paise down at 72.55 against the US dollar on account of sustained buying of the greenback by banks and importers.

On a year-to-year basis, the Indian currency has fallen over 13 per cent so far.

While the falling rupee may not be good news for Indians back home, it’s a blessing in disguise for Indians working abroad.

NRIs send a large chunk of remittances for family maintenance, a sizeable amount also goes toward different investments such as real estate, equities, bank deposits, and other instruments. With the rupee persistently weakening over the last few months, remittances to India are most likely to increase and NRIs will be looking to invest in different opportunities in the South Asian country.

Figures released by the Reserve Bank of India showed that 59.2 per cent of remittances were sent for family maintenance, 20 per cent to be deposited in banks and 8.3 per cent to invest in real estate, equity and other sectors while 12.6 per cent was sent for other purposes. The UAE was the biggest source of remittances into India in 2016-17, accounting for 26.9 per cent of total remittances, with the state of Kerala being the main beneficiary.

In 2017, according to the World Bank, remittance inflows improved in all regions and the top remittance recipients were India with $69 billion, followed by China ($64 billion), the Philippines ($33 billion), Mexico ($31 billion), Nigeria ($22 billion) and Egypt ($20 billion).

In the last one year, the rupee has lost nearly 13.5 per cent in value against the UAE dirham due to India’s growing trade deficit, high oil price and global trade war concerns.