KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan and President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain has said remittances are increasing due to positive policies of the government and timely initiatives of the central bank.

Pakistan has climbed to the sixth position in the list of countries receiving remittances providing budgetary support to the government while it will become the fifth country receiving the highest volume of remittances by the end of the year due to the initiatives of Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, he said.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that coronavirus has damaged the economies of all the countries but Pakistan is receiving higher amount of remittances beating forecasts of local and foreign experts.

He said that remittances have increased by 29 percent from July to April from the corresponding period to reach US 24.2 billion dollars while the remittances during the month of April remained US 2.8 billion dollars, an increase of 56 percent over the last year.

He noted that credit of increased remittances go to the policies of the government, initiatives of the SBP, increased use of banking channels, reduced dependence on informal channels, and travel restrictions.

He said that remittances are the most important source of forex earnings which help keep balance in payments, reduce the deficit, and strengthen reserves.

He said that remittances have also helped push the current account to a surplus of almost US one billion dollars providing relief to the government.

Saudi Arabia remained the highest source of remittances followed by UAE, UK, EU, and USA, he said, adding that government should also focus on exports and foreign investment.

The FBR should reduce the number of notices, energy prices should be reduced and industrial expansion should be preferred to bring an end to the heavy borrowing, he demanded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021