Remittances rise 15.14 percent

KARACHI: The amount of money sent home by overseas Pakistanis increased to 15.14 percent in the first four months of current fiscal year over the same period last year, data released by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed on Friday.

Remittances totaled $7.419 billion in July-October 2018/19, compared with $6.444 billion during the corresponding period of last fiscal year. In October, the inflows stood at $2.000 billion, which was 37.7 percent higher than September 2018 and 20.9 percent higher than October 2017.

The central bank figures showed the trend in workers’ remittances remained the same. Inflows from the United States witnessed the highest growth of 35.13 percent to reach $1.137 billion in July-October FY19. The US was followed by the United Kingdom, with $1.058 billion, compared to $913.54 million in the same period last year.

Remittances from Saudi Arabia somewhat improved during the period under review, increasing 4 percent to $1.757 billion. Remittances from the UAE rose 13.92 percent to $1.607 billion. However, inflows from other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries declined 3.11 percent to hit $724.73 million against $748.02 million last year.