KARACHI: The country received 13 per cent more remittances in the first quarter of the current fiscal, indicating inflows were higher from almost all sources except the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Overseas Pakistanis remitted $5.419 billion in the first quarter of FY19; 13.14pc higher than the same period of last year.

However, according to a State Bank’s report issued on Wednesday, remittances in September dropped to $1.452bn compared to $2.03bn in August.

Higher remittances are encouraging for the government since they are a key ingredient to bridge the current account deficit.

Remittances from Saudi Arabia showed a small growth of 2.85pc. However, the inflows were highest among all sources of remittances. The country received $1.263bn from Saudi Arabia.

The second highest remittances — $1.196bn — were received from the UAE, which witnessed a growth of 10.95pc in the first quarter of 2018-19.

The highest increase in remittances was noted from the United States which jumped by 32.35pc to $828.4m during the quarter. Remittances from the UK also increased by 18pc to $759.4m in the same period.

The only decline in the inflow was from the GCC countries – a fall of 6.5pc to $526.4m. Remittances from the EU increased by 3.59pc to $165.6m in the same quarter.

The new government has so far not announced any policy regarding the export of manpower as thousands of Pakistanis have lost jobs in the Middle East. If the export of manpower is not taken seriously, Pakistan may lose its most precious foreign exchange income.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2018