Saudi Arabia, UAE remain largest sources of remittances to Pakistan – central bank

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates remained the biggest sources of remittances to Pakistan last month by contributing $945 million to the economy of the South Asian nation, said the State Bank of Pakistan on Thursday.
Workers’ remittances in Pakistan have remained above $2 billion dollars per month since June 2020. The Pakistani central bank said that the trend also continued in February 2022 when the country received $2.2 billion in inflows.
In terms of growth, Pakistan’s remittances increased by two percent last month on a monthly basis despite fewer working days compared to January.
“Remittance inflows during February 2022 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($558 million), United Arab Emirates ($387 million), United Kingdom ($319 million) and United States of America ($210 million),” the central bank said.
“Cumulatively at $20.1 billion, remittances grew by 7.6 percent during the eight months of FY22 compared to the same period last year,” it added.
Pakistan has deep-rooted fraternal ties with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Nearly 2.5 million Pakistani expats live in the kingdom and more than 1.6 million in the UAE.
These Pakistanis have greatly contributed to the development of the two Gulf countries, besides constituting the biggest source of remittances to Pakistan.
Pakistan’s finance minister Shaukat Tarin also held a meeting with the chairman of Board of Investment (BOI), Azfar Ahsan, and the country’s envoy to Saudi Arabia, Ameer Khuram Rathore, on Thursday to discuss investment opportunities for Saudi investors in Pakistan.
“Both Ambassador of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia and Chairman BOI shared that Saudi government, as well as investors, are keenly interested in investment in Pakistan,” said the finance division in a statement after the meeting.
The meeting acknowledged there was a huge investment potential between the two countries that could benefit their governments and business communities.
“The Saudi business community is avidly looking toward Pakistan for business,” the statement added. “The investment avenues are being offered in various sectors of the economy. These avenues majorly include refinery, agriculture, IT and semi-conductor manufacturing sectors.”
“The finance minister also advised the BOI to enhance focus on project development in consultation with respective ministries and the provincial government,” the finance division continued. “He also urged to finalize discussion with prospective investors in Saudi Arabia.”