Ahmed Mukhtar Naqsbandi
ISLAMABAD: The inflow of overseas workers’ remittances continued to decline in Pakistan, clocking below the 2 billion dollar mark for the first time in thirty-one months at 1.9 billion dollars January 2023, a drop of 13 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.
The remittances stood at 2.18 billion dollars in the same month of 2022, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan showed on Monday.
The 1.894 billion dollars in remittance inflows recorded in the first month of this year are the lowest since May 2020. The January 2023’s figure is also the 5th successive month-on-month (MoM) decline.
On an MoM basis, remittances fell 10 percent, as they amounted to 2.102 billion dollars in December 2022. On a cumulative basis, the remittances in July-January of the fiscal year 2022-23 stood at 16 billion dollars, 11 percent lower than 17.98 billion dollars in the previous financial year.
Remittances from Arab countries
Remittances from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) amounted to 269 million dollars in January, a decline of 30 percent compared to 382 million dollars in January 2022.
Overseas Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia sent the single largest amount in January, as they remitted $408 million during the month. This was nearly 26 percent lower than the 549 million dollars sent by expatriates in the same month in 2022.
Inflows from the United Kingdom (UK) inched up 2 percent as they increased from 324 million dollars in January 2022 to 330 million dollars in January 2023.
