KARACHI: The country received home remittances amounted to $ 18.1 billion during the first eight months of this fiscal year (FY24), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Friday.

According to SBP, in term of growth, workers’ remittances slightly down by 1.2 percent or $ 225 million to reach $ 18.083 billion during July-Feb of FY24 compared to $18.308 billion in same period of last fiscal year (FY23).

Analysts said that home remittances are likely to witnessed positive growth in March as overseas Pakistanis would send more foreign exchange to their beloved due to Ramzan and Eid festival.

Pakistan’s remittances clock in at $2.4bn in January, up 26% YoY

Although there is some decline in the inflows from Saudi Arabia; however, it is still the largest contributor in the overall remittances received during this fiscal year. Home remittances from Saudi Arabia were $ 4.381 billion in July-Feb of this fiscal year versus $4.435 billion in corresponding period of last fiscal year.

However, inflows of home remittances from USA and UK rose by 4.7 and 1.8 percent, respectively during the period under review.

Home remittances from the USA were amounted to $2.147billion during the first eight months of this fiscal year as against $2.05 billion in same period of last fiscal year, depicting an increase of $ 97 million. Overseas Pakistanis in the UK sent $2.696 billion during July-Feb of FY24compared to $ 2.648 billion in the same period of previous year. During the period, remittances from the European Union rose by 9.7 percent to $ 2.248 billion.

Monthly statistics revealed that, during February 24, remittances decreased by 6.2 percent on Month on Month (MoM) basis and increased by 13 percent on Year on Year (YoY) basis.

Workers’ remittances recorded an inflow of $2.24 billion during February 2024 as against $2.4 billion in January 2024, showing a decline of $ 148 million.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024