KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan Deputy Governor Jameel Ahmad said on Thursday that workers’ remittances are a life line for the country’s external account balance.

He was addressing the audience of a docudrama launched by the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) targeted overseas Pakistani workers residing especially in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

“It is indeed heartening to note that focused efforts of all stakeholders resulted in an increase in home remittances by 13.2 per cent during the first two months of 2017-18 after a fall of 3.1pc in FY17,” he said.

The NBP launched a campaign specifically designed to create awareness about the ills of money transfer through illegal channels to Pakistan. This campaign was initiated by the launch of a short docudrama.

NBP President and CEO Saeed Ahmad said the biggest challenge facing the overall remittance business of Pakistan is the use of illegal system of Hawala or Hundi. “This is used by a large number of overseas Pakistanis due to lack of proper information. This affects the country gravely,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2017