Workers' remittances top $2 billion for 9th straight month

KARACHI: Workers’ remittances exceeded $2 billion for a record ninth consecutive month in February 2021, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday showed.

Pakistan received $2.26 billion worth of remittances in Feb, around the same level as the previous month. However, remittances saw a 24.2 per cent increase as compared to last year’s corresponding month.

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On cumulative basis, workers’ remittances reached $18.7 billion during Jul-Feb FY21, registering 24.1 per cent increase over the corresponding year of last year.

A large part of workers’ remittance inflow during Jul-Feb FY21 was sourced from Saudi Arabia ($5.0 billion), United Arab Emirates ($3.9 billion), United Kingdom ($2.5 billion) and United States ($1.6 billion).

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“Policy measures undertaken by the Government and SBP to encourage inflows through formal channels, limited cross border travel due to COVID-19, medical expenses and altruistic transfers to Pakistan amidst the pandemic, and orderly exchange market conditions contributed to this
sustained rise in workers’ remittances,” the SBP said.