KARACHI: Inflows of workers’ remittances recorded 5.4 percent growth in December 2023 compared to November 2023, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Wednesday.
According to SBP, Pakistan received home remittances amounted to $ 2.381 billion in Dec 2023 compared to $ 2.258 billion in Nov 2023, depicting an increase of $ 123 million.
Year on Year basis, inflows of workers’ remittances also recorded an increase of 13.4 percent during Dec 2023 compared to Dec 2022, in which remittance worth $ 2.1 billion arrived.
Pakistan’s remittances clock in at $2.3bn in November, down 8.6% on monthly basis
Remittance inflows during Dec 23 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia worth $ 577.6 million, United Arab Emirates (UAE) $ 419.2 million, United Kingdom (UK) $ 368 million and United States of America (USA) amounted to $ 264 million.
Analysts said that rising workers’ remittances is a good sign for the cash strapped country and will help to reduce the pressure on external accounts. The government is also making efforts to enhance the foreign inflows to build the depleting foreign exchange reserves of the country.
However, on a cumulative basis, home remittances posted a decline of 7 percent during the first half of this fiscal year (FY24). Pakistan received remittances amounted to $ 13.435 billion in July-Dec of FY24 as against $ 14.417 billion in the same period of last fiscal year (FY23), showing a decline of $ 982 million.
Inflows of home remittances from all major corridors expect an EU recorded downward trend. Remittances from Saudi Arabia fell by 9 percent in the first half of this fiscal year. However, Saudi Arabia is still the largest contributor with $3.254 billion inflows in July-Dec of FY24 compared to $ 3.571 billion in corresponding period of last fiscal year.
During the period under review, home remittances from the USA and UK declined by 2.5 percent and 0.6 percent to $ 1.576 billion and $ 1.988 billion respectively.
Inflows from UAE fell sharply 10 percent to $ 2.328 billion in the first half of this fiscal year, down from $ 2.612 billion in the same period of last fiscal year.
However, the European Union is one of the destinations, where the workers’ remittances posted a growth of 8.5 percent or $ 133 million to reach $ 1.695 billion in July-Dec of FY24 up from $ 1.562 billion in the same period of last fiscal year.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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