Remittances grow to $14.6bn in nine months

KARACHI: The country received $14.6 billion remittances during the first nine months of this fiscal year, registering a 3.5 per cent year-on-year growth.

The month of March proved vital for the economy as some important macro indicators appeared positive supporting economic growth.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Tuesday that remittances grew 22.4pc to $1.77bn in March over February. This was coupled with a growth of around 24pc in exports the same month along with a relatively lax rate of increase of imports at just 5pc.

The country’s capacity to keep its foreign exchange reserves has been declining as stated by an official report that the current reserves can pay for 2.5 months of imports against the minimum requirement of three months. It indicates that the risk attached with the economy is higher, making it difficult for the government to raise funds from the international markets.

Despite the loss of jobs by thousands of Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom still accounted for the highest amount at $3.69bn in the first nine months of 2017-18. However, the remittances from the kingdom declined by 9pc during July-March period of 2017-18 compared to the same period of last year.

From the United Arab Emirates, the inflows rose 3.8pc to $3.264bn during the period under review making it the second biggest source for remittances.

Notwithstanding the worsening of relations remittances from the United States jumped 12pc to $1.948bn at the end of third quarter of 2017-18.

The remittances from the United Kingdom surged by 22.4pc for a total inflow of $2.03bn during the nine-month period.

On the other hand, remittances from Gulf Cooperation Council countries witnessed a drop of 3.4pc in the July-February period from the corresponding period of last year. The total inflow stood at $1.648bn.

The highest growth was noted in the remittances from European Union countries but the size was still much lesser than the US and UK. The remittances from EU soared by 44pc to $479m.