Remittances plunge 19% in December

KARACHI: Inflows of workers remittances into Pakistan have plunged 19 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in December 2022, according to the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday.

The country received remittances worth $2.04 billion in December 2022, compared with $2.52 billion in the corresponding month of the last year.

Market sources said due to uncertain political conditions and huge gap in the interbank and open market rates, the overseas Pakistanis are using informal channels to send their funds.

The rupee ended at Rs228.15 against the dollar in the interbank foreign exchange market on January 13, 2023, whereas, the dollar is not available at the open market rates quoted by various forex associations. However, the greenback is available in the grey market at Rs260 to Rs270.

A sharp decline in the inflows of remittances has been reported in the funds sent from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The flows of remittances from Saudi Arabia fell to $516 million in December 2022, compared with the inflows of $627 million in the same month of the last year.

Similarly, the inflows from the UAE fell to $329 million in the period under review, compared with $453 million in the same month of the last year.

The total inflows of remittances fell to $14.05 billion during the first half (July-December) of the fiscal year 2022/23, compared with $15.81 billion in the same half of the last fiscal year.

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