KARACHI: Remittances from overseas Pakistanis remained over $2 billion for the sixth consecutive month, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Friday, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates contributing the highest inflows.
In November, overseas Pakistanis sent home $2.34 billion, with 48.5 percent of it coming from Saudi Arabia and UAE, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
“More good news for Pakistan's economy as workers’ remittances continued to grow in November — remaining above US$2 billion for a record 6th consecutive month," Khan said on Twitter. "According to SBP they rose to US$2.34 billion, up 2.4% over the previous month & 28.4% over November 2019.”
Since June 2020, Pakistan has received above $2 billion remittances every month despite global economic constraints caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Financial experts say part of the reason is that remittances that routinely came through unofficial channels were now coming in through official channels due to limited travel and were thus being properly recorded.
"We believe that due to limited number of flights people are sending money through official channels despite employment concerns in the Gulf region," senior economist Muzzamil Aslam told Arab News.
Inflows from Saudi Arabia were $615.1 million in November, 28.2 percent more than in the corresponding period last year.
“Interestingly, the overall Pakistan remittance growth is driven by non-other than Saudi Arabia which is 28 percent, an aggressive number,” Aslam said.
The same trend is observed for other expat workers in the kingdom. According to Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), foreign workers in the kingdom sent $32.9 billion in remittances to their home countries in the first 10 months of this year, 18.58 percent more than in the same period in 2019.
Similarly, Pakistan received $519.5 million from the UAE, which is 13 percent more than in November last year.
During the first five months of current fiscal year 2020-21, which started in July, remittance inflows to Pakistan were $11.77 billion, 26.9 percent more than in the same period of fiscal year 2019-20, supporting the country’s balance of payment and strengthening the currency.
"Higher inflows have not only supported balance of payment by making the current account positive but higher supply has also helped balance outflows and protect Pakistani rupee parity and helped the currency remain stable against US dollar and other foreign currencies," Samiullah Tariq, head of research at Pakistan Kuwait Investment, told Arab News.
