I had ILS in EY and needed USD in NY. I found someone that had an opposite need, and we agreed that for USD he would deposit into my account in NY I would transfer to his account in EY ILS at the current rate (usually looked up by Google search entering XXXXX US to ILS).
At a certain point he asked me if I could advance him a larger amount in ILS, which he would repay me about 10 days later in USD, to which I agreed. In the interim, the exchange rate broke through the key level of 3.40.
What would be the right amount of USD for him to repay me so that neither of us have a problem of ribbis? Would it be the rate at the time I advance the ILS to him, the rate at the time of repayment, or anything else? It should be noted that in the past no attention was paid to a day or two difference due to smaller amounts and smaller swings in the exchange rate.
I am not a halachic authority, but let me ask it to you this way:
- If I borrow a cup of sugar from you, and I agree to pay you the price of a cup of sugar in a week from now:
- If the sugar significantly appreciates in value, I still need to return 1 cup to you, a significant loss to me
- If the sugar significantly depreciates in value - I still need to return 1 cup to you, a significant loss to you
Conversely - if sugar is $1/cup, and I borrow $1 worth of sugar, you only get back $1 worth of sugar at the value when I return it to you. It sounds trivial but it makes a difference.
So my question for your transaction - did you view this as a loan in NIS, or a loan in $?
If you viewed this as a Dollar loan, even though you paid him in NIS, he would need to be pay you back the $$ equivalent.