Overseas Pakistanis taking part in stabilising national economy: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the overseas Pakistanis are taking part in stabilising the national economy and it the government’s priority to provide the maximum level of facilitation to them, ARY News reported on Monday.

PM Imran Khan issued directives for providing more facilities to the overseas nationals and further steps for increasing remittance and foreign exchange reserves while chairing a meeting of the economic team.

The meeting was attended by PM’s finance adviser Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor Reza Baqir, finance secretary, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairperson, Adviser on Accountability and Interior Shahzad Akbar, Adviser on Institutional Reforms and Austerity Ishrat Hussain and other senior officials.

Read: PM Imran terms ‘record increase’ in remittances good news for economy

The economic team has reviewed the current status of foreign exchange reserves and remittance. The high-ups have also mulled over recommendations for making further increase the remittance.

PM Khan expressed satisfaction over the hike in remittance and said that the nationals residing in foreign countries are the precious asset of the country. It is the government’s top priority to provide maximum facilities to the overseas nationals.

The premier has given tasks to the finance ministry, FBR and the central bank to take necessary steps for enhancing the foreign exchange reserves and remittance.

Read: Overseas Pakistanis to get digital banking facility soon: Zulfi Bukhari

Earlier in the day, Imran Khan said that remittances from overseas Pakistanis reached $2,768 million in July this year — “the highest ever amount in one month in the history of Pakistan”.

“More good news for Pak economy. Remittances from overseas Pakistanis reached $2,768 mn in July 2020, highest ever amount in one month in the history of Pakistan,” he said in a Tweet.

As per SBP, the remittances showed an increase of $740mn (or 36.5pc) over last July and an increase of $302mn (or 12.2pc) over June 2020.

The growth rate in remittances compared to the same month in the previous year is around twice as high as the Eid-ul-Adha related seasonality typically experienced over the last decade, SBP noted.