Imran Khan thanks Pakistanis as remittances hit $2 billion for 8th month

Remittance flow to Pakistan remains strong as the South Asian country received over $2 billion in remittances for the eighth consecutive month in January 2021.

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On a cumulative basis, Saudi Arabia was the largest source of remittances followed by the UAE, the UK and the USA.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Monday that it received $2.3 billion remittances last month, an increase of 19 per cent over the same period last year. However, remittances remained slightly lower from December 2020 level of $2.4 billion

“This sustained increase in workers’ remittances largely reflects a growing use of the banking channel that is attributed to continuous efforts by government and SBP to attract inflows through official channel, limited cross border travel amid a second wave of Covid-19, and flexible exchange rate regime,” said the apex bank.

Around 10 million Pakistanis are currently living abroad, including 1.5 million in the UAE, remitting billions of dollars annually. Last year, the government launched Roshan Digital Accounts (RDAs) and Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPCs) targeted at overseas Pakistanis to attract more foreign exchange into the country. The latest SBP data showed that $480 million were received through RDAs and $300 million were invested in NPCs by the country’s diaspora.

According to SBP, on a cumulative basis, remittances from the overseas diaspora reached $16.5 billion during July-January 2021 fiscal year, growing by 24 per cent over the same period last year. “This is a record for our country and I thank our overseas Pakistanis,” Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday.

A large part of workers’ remittances was sourced from Saudi Arabia amounting to $4.5 billion (Dh16.5 billion), followed by UAE at $3.4 billion (Dh 12.5 billion), United Kingdom at $2.2 billion (Dh8.14 billion) and United States at $1.4 billion (Dh5.1 billion).

Highlighting the performance of the industrial sector, Khan said industrial sector is showing sustained growth.

“Large manufacturing saw another double digital growth in December 2020, which is 11.4 per cent growth versus December 2019. Cumulative July to December growth now stands above eight per cent,” Khan announced through social media platforms.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com