Workers’ remittances rise to $5.37 billion in two months

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday said the workers’ remittances have increased to $5.37 billion during the first two months (July–August) of the current fiscal year.

The inflows of the remittances posted a growth of 10.4 per cent, compared with $4.86 billion received during July–August of the last fiscal year, the SBP added.

The inflows of workers’ remittances in August 2021 stood at $2.66 billion, compared with $2.1 billion in the same month of the last year, showing a growth of 26.8 per cent.

This is the sixth consecutive month when inflows recorded around $2.7 billion on an average, and the 15th consecutive month they have been above $2 billion, the SBP said.

The growth in August is a decade high growth rate for that month. On a month-on-month basis, the inflows were marginally lower than in July, reflecting the usual post-Eid slowdown. Nevertheless, this seasonal decline was far less this year, compared with the historical trends.

The remittance inflows during August 2021 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($694 million), the United Arab Emirates ($512 million), the United Kingdom ($353 million) and the United States ($279 million).

The proactive policy measures by the government and the central bank to incentivise the use of formal channels, curtailed the cross-border travel in the wake of the Covid-19, altruistic transfers to Pakistan, and orderly foreign exchange market conditions have positively contributed towards the sustained improvement in remittance inflows since last year.