The remittances inflows from overseas Pakistanis to their homeland stood at a level of $2.7 billion in the month of September 2021, maintaining the strong momentum and support of the country’s economy.

Cumulatively, at $8.0 billion, remittances grew by 12.5 percent during the first quarter of the fiscal year 2021-2022 over the same period last year. This is one of the highest ever inflows of remittances recorded in a single quarter.

This is the seventh consecutive month in which the inflows were recorded at around $2.7 billion on average.

The inflows of remittances increased by 16.9 percent on a year-on-year basis in September and went up by 0.5 percent on a month-on-month basis according to the State Bank of Pakistan.

The remittance inflows in September were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($691 million), the United Arab Emirates ($502 million), the United Kingdom ($370 million), and the United States ($245 million).

Proactive policy measures by the government and State Bank of Pakistan to incentivize the use of formal channels, curtailed cross-border travel in the face of the pandemic, altruistic transfers to Pakistan amid it, and orderly foreign exchange market conditions have positively contributed to the sustained improvement in remittance inflows since last year.

With $2.7 billion of inflows during September 2021, workers’ remittances continued their strong momentum and remained above $2 billion since June 2020.

The contribution of the remittances to maintain the balance of payment of the country is significant, particularly in the situation when Pakistan’s import bill continues to balloon, destabilizing the deficit of the current account.

Source: Pro Pakistani