PM Imran Khan wants more relief for overseas Pakistanis in terms of remittances

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday chaired a meeting on improving remittances in the country and directed the authorities to provide more facilities to overseas Pakistanis in this regard, ARY NEWS reported.

During the meeting, the prime minister was briefed on Roshan Digital Accounts, Apni Gari scheme, and other matters.

PM Imran Khan while terming overseas Pakistanis as an asset of the country said their contributions have played a pivotal role in bringing economic stability.

“We are committed to providing facilities to overseas Pakistanis and their families,” he said and directed to provide more relief to the Pakistani diaspora.

The prime minister called for preparing a comprehensive and detailed plan in order to facilitate them while keeping in view the economic constraints.

It is pertinent to mention here that a report on June 10 said that remittances to Pakistan hit US$26.7 billion in 11 months of this fiscal year (July-May), the highest level on record and increased 29 percent from the same period last year.

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The Finance Ministry in a statement said proactive policy measures by the government and SBP to encourage more inflows through formal channels, curtailed cross border travel in the face of COVID-19, altruistic transfers to Pakistan amid the pandemic, orderly foreign exchange market conditions and, more recently, Eid-related inflows have contributed to record levels of remittances this year.

Remittance flows have already crossed the full FY2020 level by $3.6 billion. In the month of May only, $2.5 billion remittances were received by the overseas Pakistanis.