Remittances rise 23% to $4.3 billion
The remitted amount is up by $813.66 million from $3.5 billion received during the same period of last fiscal year.
On monthly basis, remittances in October 2011 stood at $1.02 billion, up 19.03% compared with $855.11 million received in the same month last year.
Remittances have shown continuous growth over the last many months except for September, when they fell below the $1 billion mark. Overseas Pakistanis had sent home over $1 billion in July and August.
Muzzamil Aslam, analyst at JS Global Capital Limited, said that recovery to the level of $1 billion in October is mainly because of the central bank’s role in stabilising the rupee-dollar exchange rate.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) intervened in the market in September after which the difference between interbank and open market currency rates narrowed from Rs4 to Re1, encouraging people to send remittances through banks instead of illegal Hundi or Hawala channels.
Analysts said that when people saw that they could get higher rates in the open market, they had started sending remittances through illegal channels in September.
In that month, the rupee depreciated in the open market by over three rupees when the US accused Pakistan of supporting the Haqqani network and political tensions rose between the two countries.
Another reason was higher working days in October compared to three-day Eid holidays at the start of September, Aslam said.
Remittances received from different countries showed a growth during the four months of the current fiscal year. Inflows from Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, UK, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman) and EU countries amounted to $1,145.38 million, $963.12 million, $795.35 million, $486.92 million, $486.15 million and $129.81 million respectively. In the same period last year, inflows were $764.31 million, $819.57 million, $666.27 million, $393.24 million, $416.91 million and $117.07 million respectively.
Remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries amounted to $308.34 million against $324.03 million received in the same period last year.
Monthly average of remittances for the four months came to $1.08 billion compared to $875.35 million last year, registering an increase of 23.24%.
In October 2011, remittances from Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, GCC countries, UK and EU countries amounted to $291.20 million, $216.50 million, $167.60 million, $131.54 million, $117.56 million and $28.08 million respectively compared with $187.99 million, $198.28 million, $154.35 million, $104.18 million, $96.35 million and $32.42 million respectively in October 2010.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 15th, 2011.
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