During the first eight months of the current fascial year, the remittances raised by 5.37% as compared to the corresponding period of the fascial year 2018-2019.
According to the recent report released by the State Bank of Pakistan, during February, the remittances reached 16.47% i.e. $1.824 billion, however, during the same period of the previous year, it declined by 4.35% i.e. $1.901 billion.
As per the official data, Saudi Arabia remained the biggest source of inflows as remittances from the kingdom clocked in at $3.474 billion during July-February 2019-20, edging up 3.95% over $3.341 billion in the same period last year. The United Arab Emirates came in second, accounting for inflows worth $3.132bn in 8MFY20, inching up by 3.22pc over $3.034bn in corresponding months of the previous year. The same figure for February rose by 15pc year-on-year to $387 million, from $336m in the same period of 2019.
Remittances from the United States inflated to 13.9% to $2.558 billion, on the other hand, the remittances from the United Kingdom increased to 5.5%. From July to February of the current fascial year, Gulf Cooperation Council also sent $1.454 billion to Pakistan showing an increase of 5.75%.
State Bank’s foreign reserves are already on a continuous rising track, thanks in part to the inflows in market treasury bills, some improvement in the export performance would go a long way in the economic stabilization programme.