Remittances sent by overseas Pakistan have set another record as they surged over $3 billion in a month for the first time in history.
According to statistics released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), remittances sent by expatriate Pakistanis recorded inflows of $3.1 billion during April 2022.
Remittances crossed the monthly mark of US $3 billion for the first time. Cumulatively, at $26.1 billion, remittances grew by 7.6 % in the ten months of FY22 compared to last year.https://t.co/7XBd4uNES4 pic.twitter.com/8fDthGpYBi
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) May 13, 2022
Recently, the country received record inflows of remittances in March 2022, which stood at $2.8 billion.
The increasing inflows of remittances have been attributed to the seasonal impact as traditionally, remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis are higher ahead of Eid or Ramadan due to religious obligations such as Zakat, Sadqat, Fitra, and expenditures on account of Eid festivities.
Besides seasonal impact, the facility of Roshan Digital Accounts to overseas Pakistan, coupled with incentive schemes for banks, also reflected the healthy inflows of remittances in the country.
In terms of growth, during April 2022, remittances increased by 11.2 percent on a month-on-month basis and 11.9 percent on a year-on-year basis.
Remittances’ inflows during April 2022 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($707 million), the United Arab Emirates ($614 million), the United Kingdom ($484 million), and the United States of America ($346 million).
Overall, remittances grew by 7.6 percent during 10 months of FY22 compared to the same period last year to reach $ 26.1 billion.
With two months left in the financial year, it is expected that remittances will cross a mark of $30 billion for the first time in the financial year.
Commenting on the development, Economic analyst A. A. H Soomro said in a tweet that remittances have single-handedly kept Pakistan’s economic story alive. He added that the natives here have become globally inefficient and mentioned the meager export to GDP ratio as an example.
