KARACHI: The remittances sent by overseas Pakistani workers edged lower by around two per cent in the first four months of this fiscal year, the State Bank reported on Tuesday.

The country received $7.478 billion in remittances during July-October FY20, as against $7.617bn in same period last year — a decline of 1.82pc.

The four-month period of FY19 had witnessed an increase of 16.8pc compared to the preceding year.

Inflows were Saudi Arabia were the highest as usual, but they showed a slight decrease of 1.1pc to $1.737bn during the period, as against $1.757bn in same months of 2018-19.

On the other hand, remittances from the United States grew by 3.8pc to $1.234bn, up from $1.188bn. In the four-month period of FY19, they had grown 34.8pc year-on-year.

Meanwhile, UK came in third with inflows inching up by 0.94pc to $1.143bn in July-October, rising from $1.132bn.

Only major decline of 6.6pc was from the United Arab Emirates as the country received $1.538bn, versus $1.646bn in same period of last year.

Inflows from Gulf Cooperation Council countries also dropped by 2.3pc to $711 million, as compared to $727m in same period of last year .

Remittances from the European Union increased by 3.3pc to $230m, up from $223m. A noticeable decrease in growth was noted in inflows from Malaysia, which clocked in at $542m, indicating only an uptick of 0.90pc, which in the same period of last year was 67pc.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2019