KARACHI: Inflows of workers’ remittances continued to provide much-needed support to the external account, posting a strong 11 percent increase during the first half of the current fiscal year (FY26)
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday reported that home remittances maintained a strong upward trend, with cumulative inflows reaching USD19.734 billion during July-December of FY26, up from USD17.847 billion in the corresponding period last year (FY25). This reflects an increase of about USD1.9 billion in remittance inflows.
Analysts said that this growth in home remittances is as per expectation. The SBP is expecting over USD40 billion inflows by end of this fiscal year.
READ MORE: Jul-Nov remittances up over 9% to $16.14bn YoY
Saudi Arabia remained the largest source of remittances, with inflows 7 percent increase to reach USD4.715 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year, compared to USD4.424 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
Remittances from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have regained momentum in recent months, with their share rising to 21 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year, up from a low of 17 percent in the first half of FY24. Inflows from the UAE increased by 14 percent to USD4.1 billion during the period.
During the period, inflows from United Kingdom (UK) rose by 11 percent to USD2.9 billion. However, home remittances from United States of America (USA) declined by 6 percent to USD1.7 billion.
Home remittances rose by 16.5 percent on a year-on-year basis, with workers’ remittances amounting to USD 3.58 billion in December 2025, compared to USD3.1 billion in December 2024. On a month-on-month basis, inflows also increased sharply by 12.6 percent in December 2025 from USD3.2 billion received in November 2025.
Remittances inflows during December 2025 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia worth USD813.1 million, UAE USD 726.1 million, USD559.7 million and United States of America USD301.7 million.
Analysts said that Remittances have played a pivotal role in stabilizing Pakistan’s external account, consistently offsetting the trade deficit. Their role has become even more important as external pressures resurface.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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