May 18, 2021 (MLN): Remittances by overseas Pakistani continued to surge, rising to an all-time high of $2.8bn in Apr21, 56% higher than a year ago, the central bank said on Tuesday.
Cumulatively, during July-April FY21, workers’ remittances rose to an unprecedented level of US$24.2 billion, up by 29 percent, compared with the same period last year. These have also surpassed the full FY20 level by over $1bn, creating a new record, the SBP revealed on Twitter.
Country-wise, Remittance inflows during July-April FY21 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia (US$6.40 billion), United Arab Emirates (US$5.08 billion), United Kingdom (US$3.33 billion), and the United States (US$2.22 billion).
Proactive policy measures by the Government and SBP to encourage more inflows through formal channels, curtailed cross border travel in the face of COVID-19, altruistic transfers to Pakistan amid the pandemic, orderly foreign exchange market conditions and, more recently, Eid-related inflows have contributed to record levels of remittances this year.
