Inflow of remittances witnessed a surge in February 2024 by 13 percent year-on-year – shows the latest data released by the central bank. The rise in remittances is much needed but was not unanticipated as these foreign inflows depict a growth near Ramzan and religious festivities like Eid – ul – Fitr and Eid – ul – Azha. The same phenomenon is likely to have caused a jump in remittances during Feb-24. What also jacked up remittances during the month could be the stability in the domestic currency and the ongoing crackdown against illegal channels - encouraging expatriates to send money via formal channels. However, due to the lesser number of days during the month, February witnessed a decline of 6 percent in remittances when compared to January 2024.

Overall, the remittances in 8MFY24 depicted a decline of 1.2 percent year-on-year with the total inflow of $18 billion. The falling trend has been going on for months now. Where foreign exchange has been crucial for the country’s economy, FY23 was one of the weakest years for remittances inflow. However, FY24 has seen some improvement, which is likely to continue in the coming months with inflows coming in during Ramzan and the Eid festival.

Overseas Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia continued to contribute the largest to the remittances sent home. However, remittances from the Kingdom fell by 1.2 percent year-on-year during 8MFY24 after falling by 13.7 percent in FY23. Remittances from the USA and the UK depicted growth of 4.7 and 1.8 percent year-on-year, respectively during 8MFY24.