Workers' remittances grow 27pc in August

KARACHI: Workers’ remittances maintained their strong momentum for the fifteen consecutive month in August as Pakistanis working abroad sent home $2.66 billion last month.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said, “this is the sixth consecutive month when inflows recorded [at] around $2.7 billion on average, and the fifteen consecutive month they have been above $2 billion”.

In terms of growth, August witnessed an increase of 26.8 per cent in remittances on a year-on-year basis, a decade high growth rate for the month.

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However, the SBP said on a month-on-month basis, inflows were “marginally lower than in July, reflecting the usual post‐Eid slowdown”. Nevertheless, it added this seasonal decline was far less this year compared to historical trends.

Cumulatively, Pakistan received $5.36 billion worth of remittances during the first two months of this fiscal year, showing growth of 10.4pc over the same period last year.

The data showed the inflow from Saudi Arabia clocked in at $694 million, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) $512 million, the United Kingdom (UK) $353 million and the United States (US) $279 million.

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“Proactive policy measures by the Government and SBP to incentivize the use of formal channels, curtailed cross‐border travel in the face of COVID‐19, altruistic transfers to Pakistan amid the pandemic, and orderly foreign exchange market conditions have positively contributed towards the sustained improvement in remittance inflows since last year,” the central bank said.