Pakistan has recorded an almost two-decade high growth rate in remittances from abroad, as overseas Pakistanis remitted $29.4 billion during the fiscal year 2020-21 (Jul-Jun).
According to the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday, remittances sent home by Pakistanis working overseas has exceeded $2 billion in June for a record 13th month in a row, showed an increase of 27 percent when compared with the previous years’ remittances worth of $23.13 billion. It was the fastest rate of expansion since FY03.
The State Bank of Pakistan said, “On a cumulative basis, remittances rose to a historic high of $29.4 billion. This helped improve the country’s external sector position despite the challenging global economic conditions in the past year.”
Read more: Remittances surge by 29.4 percent in 11 months
The central bank said in its latest weekly update on Thursday, “To recall, the country’s foreign exchange reserves climbed to over four-year high at $17.23 billion in the week ended July 2, 2021.”
Remittances in Pakistan exceeded $2 billion in June for a record 13th month in a row
Central bank said that inflows of around $2.7 billion in June 2021 showed 9 percent growth on a year-on-year basis and 8 percent on a month-on-month basis. “Workers’ remittances continued their unprecedented streak of above $2 billion for a record 13th consecutive month,” the SBP said, adding seasonal pre-Eid ul Adha related inflows helped further boost remittances level during June. “Seasonal pre-Eid related inflows helped give a boost to remittances during June,”
“Overall, record high inflow of workers’ remittances during FY21 was driven by proactive policy measures by the government and SBP to incentivize the use of formal channels, curtailment of cross-border travel in the face of Covid-19 infections and altruistic transfers to Pakistan amid the pandemic,” the central bank said.
However, remittance inflows during FY21 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia (at $7.7 billion), United Arab Emirates ($6.1 billion), United Kingdom ($4.1 billion) and the United States ($2.7 billion).
