KARACHI, Feb 17: The State Bank of Pakistan said on Monday foreign exchange inflows through banks rose to $2.531 billion in the first seven months (July-Jan) of 2002-03 from $1.163 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Bankers said investigations into global money-laundering had prompted more expatriate Pakistanis to send money home through official banking channels. The higher remittances are helping boost foreign exchange reserves.

The central bank said in a statement the amount remitted in January 2003 was $383.22 million, compared with $180.52 million in the same month last year.

During the first seven months of the current fiscal year, the SBP said foreign exchange inflows through official banking channels rose 117.60 per cent.

“Out of total remittances of $2.531 billion received during July-January period, workers’ remittances contributed $2.402 billion as against $1.079 billion during the corresponding period of last year,” it added.

Bankers said they expected foreign exchange inflows to continue rising in the current fiscal year because of tighter international monitoring of money transfers.—Reuters