KARACHI: Remittances sent by the overseas Pakistanis have jumped by 31 per cent to $7.147 billion during the first quarter of FY21, compared to $5.452bn in the same period of last fiscal year, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Monday.

On a monthly basis, workers’ inflows in September increased by 9pc to $2.284bn compared to $2.095bn in August while they registered a rise of 31pc as against $1.740bn in same month of 2019.

Remittances remained above $2bn for the fourth consecutive month in September and as per the SBP, the rise was on the back of efforts under the Pakistan Remittances Initiative (which includes efforts at digitisation), and resumption of normal business activities in major inflows sources such as the Middle East, Europe and the USA.

However, bankers dealing in currency business and dealers in the open market did not find any particular reason for the rise in remittances. Earlier, they said overseas Pakistanis were sending higher amounts to protect their families from corona-related negative impacts and latter it was due to better management by the SBP and banks to bring back foreign exchange through banking channels.

A senior banker said that Pakistanis used to bring cash dollars while visiting Pakistan but the Covid-19 stopped thousands of Pakistanis abroad. These individual cash inflows are coming through banking channel which helped to increase the size of remittances.

“Despite Covid more good news for our economy. Alhamdulillah, remittances from our hardworking overseas Pakistanis rose to $2.3bn in Sept 2020, 31pc higher than last Sept & 9pc higher than August 2020. This marks the 4th consecutive month that remittances have remained above $2bn,” Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted on the occasion.

Highest amount of $2.08bn came from Saudi Arabia during July-September, indicating an increase of 33.6pc compared to $1.556bn in the same period of last fiscal year.

The greatest increase in terms of percentage was noted from the UK as inflows soared by 71.5pc to $985.5m during the quarter, from $574.5m in corresponding period last year.

Another major source of remittances was the United States, showing a surge of 62.8pc to $632.6m during 1QFY21, as against $388.6m.

The UAE accounted for the second highest inflow at $1.42bn in July-September, up 7.8pc over $1.318bn in the same period of last fiscal year.

Remittances from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries rose by 8pc to $784m while those from the European Union increased by 34pc to $601m.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2020