On Monday, the State Bank of Pakistan said that the remittances received from overseas-Pakistani workers exceeded $2 billion for the eighth consecutive month in January, which saw a total of $2.3 billion sent in remittances. The figure had an increase of 19% from a year earlier, the central bank stated.
The sustained increase in remittances primarily reflects the growing use of banking channels due to the government and the central bank’s continued efforts to attract inflows through official channels, the State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement.
Furthermore, the figure also increased due to limited cross-border travel due to COVID-19 and a flexible exchange rate regime, the statement added.
“This is a record for our country, and I thank our overseas Pakistanis,” Prime Minister Imran Khan said in a tweet while sharing the figures of remittances.
Similarly, Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz said the sustained increase in remittances was a “clear indication that overseas Pakistanis trust the transparent leadership of PM Imran Khan”.
Travel restrictions and introduction of digital apps for transferring money are the main reasons behind higher remittances among others, Samiullah Tariq, head of research and development at Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company, told Reuters.
According to the State Bank, Saudi Arabia ($4.5bn), United Arab Emirates ($3.4bn), United Kingdom ($2.2bn) and United States ($1.4bn), were the highest contributing countries from July to January period in FY21which saw a large number of overseas Pakistani sending remittances.
