Remittances stand at $2.1bn, down 4.4% month-on-month in May

Inflow of overseas workers’ remittances registered a decline to clock in at $2.1 billion in May 2023, a decrease of 4.4% on a month-on-month basis, as compared to $2.2 billion in April 2023, showed data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday.

On a yearly basis, the inflow of remittances registered a decline of 10.4%, as they stood at $2.3 billion in the same month of the previous year, the data showed.

On a cumulative basis, the inflow of remittances during the July to May period of the fiscal year 2022-23 stood at $24.8 billion, 12.8% lower than $28.5 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year, a decline of nearly $3.7 billion.

It may be mentioned that Pakistan was receiving over $2 billion monthly inflows since June 2020 and it received the highest ever over $3 billion inflows in April 2022. However, January and February 2023 were two months in which inflows were below $2 billion because of uncertainty in the currency market and massive difference in the exchange rate in the inter-bank market and black market.

The unofficial cap on exchange rate was removed after which the exchange rate was raised to Rs 269 against a dollar as on Feb 13, 2023 compared to Rs 230 as on January 26, 2023.

With the improvement in the exchange rate, home remittances posted some growth. In addition, Ramazan and Eid inflows also help to get higher inflows in March 2023.

Breakdown of remittances

Overseas Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia remitted the single largest amount in May 2023 as they sent $524 million during the month. This was nearly 4% lower than the $546.3 million sent by expatriates in the same month of the previous year.

Inflows from the United Arab Emirates registered a significant decline of 23% as they decreased from $434.3 million in May 2022 to $335.8 million in May 2023.

Remittances from the United Kingdom amounted to $306.5 million during the month, a decline of 14% compared to $358.5 million in May 2022.

Moreover, remittances from the European Union decreased 8% as they amounted to $249 million in May 2023. Overseas Pakistanis in the US sent $257.2 million in May 2023, registering a year-on-year growth of 10%.