Saudi Arabia, UAE remain top contributors to Pakistan remittance inflows

Pakistani customers enters at a currency exchange shop in Islamabad on October 9, 2018. (AFP)

• Official statistics compiled by the State Bank of Pakistan point to an all-time monthly high of $2.8 billion last month
• Pakistan’s overall remittance inflow increased by 29 percent to $24.2 billion during the first ten months of the current fiscal year

KARACHI: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remained top contributors to Pakistan’s highest ever remittance inflow in April, according to the country’s central bank that released the latest data on Tuesday.
“Workers’ remittances rose to an all-time monthly high of $2.8 billion in April 2021, which is 56 percent higher than the same month during the last year,” the State Bank of Pakistan said.
On a cumulative basis, remittances also surpassed previous records during the ten months of the current fiscal year (10MFY21).
The $24.2 billion the country received in July-April FY21, is 29 percent greater than the inflows in the corresponding period last year and the amount has already exceeded the full FY20 level by more than $1 billion.
The central bank took the credit for the highest remittance inflow, saying its proactive policy measures encouraged more remittances through formal channels.
Other contributing factors accounting for the record remittance levels this year include reduced cross-border travel due to COVID-19, orderly foreign exchange market conditions and, more recently, Eid-related money transfers by overseas Pakistanis to their homeland.
Pakistan received $6.4 billion from Saudi Arabia followed by $5.1 billion from the UAE and $2.77 billion from other gulf countries during July-April FY21, taking the overall contribution of the gulf states to 58 percent of the total inflow of $24.2 billion this year.
The United Kingdom and United States were other major contributors with $3.3 billion and $2.2 billion, respectively.
During the month of April, Pakistani workers remitted $664.5 million from Saudi Arabia while those in the UAE dispatched $549.3 million. The trend shows that inflows from the two countries will surpass previous records by the end of the current fiscal year.
During the last fiscal year (FY20), Pakistani workers in Saudi Arabia contributed $6.61 billion while inflows from UAE stood at $5.61 billion.
“Due to travel restriction, people are now transferring more money through digital means,” Samiullah Tariq, head of research at the Pakistan Kuwait Investment, told Arab News on Tuesday. “Previously, they physically carried cash while traveling to the country.”
“Cumulative inflows during the full fiscal year are expected to remain in the range of $28 billion to $29 billion,” he continued, adding: “The inflows in the coming months are expected to tone down.”
Analysts say major inflows from the gulf countries are supporting Pakistan’s balance of payment situation and strengthening the country’s national currency which closed at Rs152.60 against the US dollar in the interbank market on Monday.