KARACHI: The remittances sent by the overseas Pakistanis into the country have increased by six per cent year-on-year to $12.7 billion during July-February as compared with the last year’s $12 billion of the same period.
According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), remittances amounted to almost $1.52 billion in February 2016, which is 6.7% more than the remittances received in the preceding month. Pakistanis based in foreign countries sent home $18.4 billion in the fiscal year 2014-15, which translated into a YoY increase of 16.5%, SBP data shows.
Inflows from Saudi Arabia were the largest source of remittances in Jul-Feb. They amounted to $3.8 billion in the eight months, up 7.7% from the corresponding period of the last year.
Remittances received in Jul-Feb from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) increased 8% to $2.8 billion on a YoY basis. Inflows from the UAE had registered the largest increase (26.1%) from any major remittance-sending country in 2014-15, SBP data shows.
In the first eight months of the current fiscal year, remittances from Dubai have surged 35.2% YoY. But the figure for overall inflows from the UAE so far has remained subdued because of a 23.9% annual decline in remittances from Abu Dhabi over the same period.
Remittances from the United States and the United Kingdom remained $1.7 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively, in Jul-Feb. The YoY change in remittances from the US and the UK has been -3.2% and 1.8%, respectively.
