Monthly remittances from foreign workers topped US$3 billion for the first time in Pakistan’s history as April 2022 saw inflows of US$3.125 million, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday revealed.
In terms of growth, remittances climbed by 11.2 percent month over month and 11.9 percent year over year. Incremental remittances increased 7.6% to $26.1 billion in the ten months of FY22 compared to the same period last year.
Saudi Arabia was the most significant contributor to workers’ remittances at US$6.517 billion in July-April FY22, up from US$6.412 billion in the same period last year.
Remittances from the United Arab Emirates totalled $4,898 million, while an inflow of $3,671 million was registered from the United Kingdom and another $2,556 million from the United States.
Every month, the primary inflows came from Saudi Arabia ($707 million), the United Arab Emirates ($614 million), the United Kingdom ($484 million) and the United States of America ($346 million).
The news comes at a critical time for Pakistan, which has seen its foreign exchange reserves dwindle due to external debt servicing and fewer dollar inflows.
According to the most recent figures, the SBP’s reserves fell by $190 million to $10.31 billion on Thursday, remaining at less than 1.5 months of import cover.
