KARACHI: The remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis have declined during the first seven months of the current fiscal year (July-Jan).
The State Bank of Pakistan on Friday stated that the remittances fell by 1.81 percent as compared to last year and stood at $10.94 billion during the seven months of the fiscal year.
There was a visible decrease in remittances from several countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the Gulf countries.
Although there was a sixty percent decline in oil prices which has now stabilized at $50 per barrel, and thousands of Pakistanis lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia, remittances from the country declined 5.6 percent to $3.70 billion.
Remittances from the United States declined 9.1 percent to $1.34 billion, and United Kingdom dropped 10.56 percent to $1.27 billion. The is likely due to the decrease in the value of the pound sterling after Britain decided to leave the European Union.
The remittances from the United Arab Emirates also fell 1.8 percent to $2.44 billion in July-Jan, and from other countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) also registered a decline of 1.7 percent to $1.34 billion.