Remittances from Pakistanis employees abroad decreased by 11% over the first seven months (July–Jan) of the fiscal year 2022-23, according to figures issued by the State Bank of Pakistan. The remittances went down from $17.98 billion Y22 to $16.01 billion in the period under consideration.

Remittances sent home by foreign employees totalled $1.9 billion in January 2023 on an annual basis, showing a 13% decline from the $2.18 billion sent home in the same month of the previous year. The remittances in January 2023 decreased 9.9% month over month when compared to the inflow of $2.1 billion seen in December 2022.

The following countries provided the majority of the remittance inflows in January 2023: Saudi Arabia $407.6 million, the United Arab Emirates $269.2 million, the United Kingdom $330.4 million and the United States of America $213.9 million. In the same month, Pakistanis living abroad who were residing in Bahrain sent $35.7 million, Kuwait $59.0 million, Qatar $72.7 million, and Oman $76.1 million.

Similarly, inflows from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and Ireland were recorded at $47.6 million, $35.3 million, $4.3 million, $34.3 million, $65.6 million, $21.9 million, $6.3 million, $6.5 million, $7.7 million and $10.0 million respectively.

The employees also sent out $6.0 million, $9.7 million, $3.3 million, $47.1 million, $37.6 million, and $5.5 million from Malaysia, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, and Japan, respectively. In the month under review, remittances from South Africa totalled $13.8 million, while those from South Korea totalled $8.5 million. Similarly to that, $58.1 million came from other nations.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk