Inflows of workers'' remittances, sent by overseas Pakistanis, observed a slight growth of 3 percent (YoY) in the first month (July) of this fiscal year (FY20). Overseas Pakistani workers remitted $ 2.039 billion in July of FY20 as compared with $ 1.982 billion received during the same period in FY19, depicting an increase of $57 million, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported Friday. During July 2019, the inflows of workers'' remittances were some 23.91 percent more than June 2019 and some 2.9 percent more than July 2018. However, the growth in July 2019 is much less than 27.39 percent recorded in July 2018.
The increase in remittances was more pronounced from Saudi Arab and the US, mainly due to seasonal inflows ahead of Eid. However, during the period under review, remittances from the UAE, GCC Countries and EU countries declined by 4.24 percent, 0.62 percent and 10.25 percent, respectively.
The detailed analysis revealed that inflows of home remittances from Saudi Arabia (KSA) were $ 470.95 million in the first month of this fiscal year compared to $ 437.48, depicting an increase of 7.65 percent. Home remittances from the US increased by 14 percent to $ 332.37 million in July of FY20 against $ 291.87 million arrived in the same period of last fiscal year. Inflows from UK stood at $ 299.27 million, up by 0.25 percent.
The country-wise details for July 2019 show that inflows from UAE, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman) and the EU countries amounted to $ 427.33 million, $198.06 million and $ 58.30 million, respectively compared with the inflow of $ 446.25 million, $ 199.30 million and $ 64.96 million, respectively in July 2018.
Remittances received from Malaysia, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries during first month of this fiscal year amounted to $ 253.01 million together as against $ 243.35 million received in the corresponding period of last fiscal year. Economists said that there is need for making efforts for higher workers'' remittances inflows as the country is currently facing a serious crisis of balance of payment. The higher home remittances inflows will help reduce the pressure on external account, they added.