Overseas Pakistanis’ remittances exceed for third month in row
KARACHI: Remittances from overseas Pakistanis rose by 24.4 per-cent to $2.095 billion during August as compared to last year’s corresponding period, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Monday.
According to figures released by the central bank, remittances reached an unprecedented level of $7.3 billion over the last three months, which are 37.2 per-cent higher than the same period last year.
The SBP said: “Efforts under the Pakistan Remittances Initiative (PRI) and the gradual re-opening of businesses in major host countries such as the Middle East, Europe, and the United States contributed to this increase.”
The top three originating countries for remittances in August were: Saudi Arabia ($0.593 billion), United Arab Emirates ($0.410 billion), and the United Kingdom ($0.302 billion).
On a month-on-month basis, remittances were 24.3 per-cent lower than the record level of remittances of $ 2.768 billion posted in July, mainly reflecting the usual seasonal decline in the post-Eid-al-Azha period.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) report, the remittances showed an increase of $740mn (or 36.5pc) over last July and an increase of $302mn (or 12.2pc) over June 2020.
Overseas Pakistanis sent $2,095 million in remittances in Aug 2020 — 24.4% higher than Aug. last year — in addition to the record $2,768 million in July 2020. For the first two months of this fiscal year our remittances are up 31% over the same period last year. Alhamdulillah
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) September 14, 2020
The growth rate in remittances compared to the same month in the previous year is around twice as high as the Eid-ul-Adha related seasonality typically experienced over the last decade, the SBP said in a statement.
Since the global outbreak of corona-virus in February 2020, remittances have increased by 14.3 percent compared to the same period last year.
SBP further pointed out that several factors have likely supported the growth in remittances to date, including orderly exchange rate conditions and policy steps taken by the State Bank and the federal government under the Pakistan Remittance Initiative.
These steps include reducing the threshold for eligible transactions from USD $200 to USD $100 under the Reimbursement of Telegraphic Transfer (TT) Charges Scheme, an increased push towards adoption of digital channels, and targeted marketing campaigns to promote formal channels for sending remittances, said SBP. Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan has termed a record increase in remittances as good news for the country’s economy.
