Pakistan received $5.364 billion of International Remittances during the first 2 months of the fiscal year 2021-22, showing growth of 10.4 % compared to the same period in FY21 when inflows were $4.859bn.
State Bank of Pakistan
“In terms of growth, international remittances increased by 26.8pc year-on-year in August which is a decade-high growth rate for that month,” said the SBP. The central bank further said that on a month-on-month basis, inflows were marginally lower than in July, reflecting the usual post-Eid slowdown.
The SBP data showed that remittances remained intact with $2.657 billion during August FY22.
“It is the 6th consecutive month of $2.7billion Inflows on average and 15th consecutive month of above $2 billions,” says the central bank.
Pakistan depends largely on remittances for its foreign exchange, with the inflows crossing total export proceeds with wide margin. Overseas Pakistanis remitted record $29.4bn during FY21, helping the country meet the widening trade and current account deficits.
Govt says it will face 2-3% current account deficit of GDP in FY22 against 0.6% of GDP in FY21. This indicates that remittances would be more important in FY22 to keep the external account on positive side. The govt would need up to $20bn for repayment this fiscal year. While the trade gap could be even larger than that in FY21.
Inflows in August remain highest in a decade
State Bank of Pakistan
Highest remittances amount came from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) despite a 5.6pc decline during 2MFY22 compared to 36pc growth in the same period of FY21. Inflows from KSA were $1.335bn during 2MFY22 compared to $1.414bn in the same period of FY21.
However, inflows in terms of percentage were highest from the European Union (EU) countries which jumped by 50pc. Inflows from the United States of America (USA) were also significant with an increase of 30.6pc.
Remittances from EU countries rose to $590m compared to $394m; a growth of 49.7pc in 2MFY22 compared to 29.1pc growth noted in the same period of last year.
Inflows from USA during the two months were $591m against $452m of previous fiscal year; an increase of 30.6pc compared to a growth of 66.8pc in the same period of last year.
Inflows from the United Kingdom were $745.7m in 2MFY22 compared to $696m of previous year – an increase of 7.1pc. During 2MFY21, there was 75pc growth.
The inflows from United Arab Emirates during the two months of FY22 were $1043m against $947m in the same period of last year – a growth of 10pc compared to 5.5pc growth in the same months in FY21.
Inflow from other than Gulf Cooperation Council countries were $583m compared to $498m of last year – a growth of 11.5pc.
