Worker's remittances surge by 43pc in March

ISLAMABAD: The remittances dispatched by the overseas Pakistani Workers’ extended their unprecedented streak of above $2 billion for the 10th consecutive month in March as the remittances rose to $2.7 billion in the month posting 43 percent increase than same month of last year when the inflows were recorded at $1.9 billion.

The remittances in March 2021 also increased by 20 percent compared to the last month (February) when the inflows were recorded at $2.226 billion.

For the first 10 months of this fiscal year (Jul-Mar FY21), remittances reached $21.5 billion and have risen by 26 percent over same period of last fiscal year.

Efforts under the Pakistan Remittances Initiative (PRI) and the gradual re-opening of major host destinations such as Middle East, Europe and United States contributed to the sustained increase in workers’ remittances.

Moreover proactive policy measures by the government and the SBP to encourage more inflows through formal channels, limited cross border travel in the face of the COVID-19, medical expenses and altruistic transfers to Pakistan amidst the pandemic, and orderly foreign exchange market conditions are continuing to contribute to this sustained rise in workers’ remittances.

The details show that the remittance inflows during Jul-Mar FY21 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($5.7 billion), United Arab Emirates ($4.5 billion), United Kingdom ($2.9 billion) and the United States ($1.9 billion).

In March, the worker's inflow from USA increased from $$142.9 million last year to $283.3 million this year, whereas from United Kingdom the inflows also surged from $180.5 million to $371.2 million in March 2021.

Similarly from Saudi Arabia, the workers' remittances also rose from $556.7 million to $690.4 million while that from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman, the workers' inflow also rose to $454.2 million, $126.7 million, $6.9 million, $44.9 million, $77.3 million, $91.1 million and $100.7 million respectively.

The workers' remittances from European countries also jumped to $234.6 million in March 2021 compared to the inflow worth of $132.6 million in march 2020.

Likewise from Malaysia, the Pakistanis sent $17 million, from Australia $48.4 million, from Canada $55.7 million and from Japan, an amount of $7.0 million was transferred.