KARACHI: President of United Business Group (UBG), Zubair Tufail hails overseas Pakistanis and said that they have played a vital role in strengthening Pakistan’s economic situation by sending record remittances to Pakistan.
While paying tribute to Pakistanis abroad for sending valuable foreign exchange to Pakistan’s treasury, he said that it was general perception that owing to difficult economic situation of Pakistan, especially the global economic slowdown and Covid-19, remittances from overseas may decline, but over the last 10 months, remittances from abroad increased and crossed 24.2 billion dollars mark which is more that Pakistan’s total exports.
He said that it was a record increase and also helped Pakistan in a big way to stabilise economy. Overseas Pakistanis are truly Pakistan’s Mohsin who are sending dollars to Pakistan in the most difficult circumstances, he added. Zubair Tufail noted that a large part of the remittances during the July to March period in FY21 came mainly from Saudi Arabia, standing at $5.7 billion; the United Arab Emirates, at $4.5 billion; with $2.9 billion from Britain and $1.9 billion from the United States.
He said that the government should provide facilities to overseas Pakistanis at the airport and establish special counters for them so that when they arrive, they should not stand in long queues, they should be treated like VIPs because they send most needed foreign exchange to Pakistan.
Zubair Tufail also said that Pakistanis returning from abroad after losing their jobs due to problems created by Covid-19 are bringing back their savings, sending money back home to provide financial support to their families.
He said effective crackdowns against illegal foreign exchange transactions have boosted official arrivals and attracted remittances through official channel.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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