Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remained the biggest sources of remittances to Pakistan, according to central bank.
Over $1 billion transferred to the South Asian nation from the two Gulf countries in the month of November, the Pakistani central bank said on Monday.
With $2.4 billion of inflows during November, workers’ remittances continued their strong streak and remained above $2 billion since June 2020, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
In terms of growth, the country’s remittances increased by 0.6 percent in November on a year-on-year basis, while they declined by 6.6 percent on a month-on-month basis.
“Cumulatively, at $12.9 billion, remittances grew by 9.7 percent during the first five months of FY22 over the same period last year,” the SBP said in a statement.
“Remittances inflows during November 2021 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($590 million), United Arab Emirates ($452.5 million), United Kingdom ($305.8 million) and the United States of America ($237.8 million).”
Proactive policy measures to incentivize the use of formal channels and altruistic transfers to Pakistan amid the pandemic had contributed towards the sustained inflows of remittances since last year, the central bank said.
Pakistan has deep-rooted fraternal ties with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Around 2.5 million Pakistani expats are living in the kingdom and over 1.6 million in the UAE.
These Pakistanis have greatly contributed to the development of the two Gulf countries, besides being the biggest source of foreign remittances to Pakistan.
