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- The strong growth in remittances can be attributed to increased use of formal channels and limited cross-border movement due to COVID-19
- Workers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates contributed $4 billion and $3 billion to the national economy, respectively
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates continued to be the leading contributors to remittances in Pakistan, according to the latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday.
According to the central bank, workers’ remittances maintained their strong momentum for the seventh consecutive month in December.
On a cumulative basis, remittances reached an unprecedented level of $14.2 billion during the first half of the current fiscal year, which is 24.9 percent higher than the same period last year.
The State Bank of Pakistan added this was the highest half yearly growth since FY07.
Most of the inflows during FY21 were sourced from Saudi Arabia ($4 billion), United Arab Emirates ($3 billion), the United Kingdom ($1.9 billion) and the United States ($1.2 billion).
The bank observed that Pakistan’s remittance inflows had significantly diversified.
“This strong growth in workers’ remittances is attributable to the increased use of formal channels on the back of sustained efforts by the government and SBP to encourage inflows through official channels as well as limited cross-border travel due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, together with favorable foreign exchange market dynamics,” the central bank explained in its official statement.