Remittances rise over 20% to $10.88 billion

Monthly remittances during first ten months of fiscal 2012 average $1.09 billion.

KARACHI: Overseas Pakistanis remitted $10.88 billion in the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2011-12; recording impressive growth of 20.23% or $1830.38 million as compared to the same period last year.

Average monthly remittances for July-April 2012 equal $1.09 billion, as compared to $904.66 million during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.

Last month, an amount of $1.14 billion was sent home by overseas Pakistanis, up 10.73% compared with $1.03 billion received in April 2011. Almost all of this growth in remittances during April 2012 was through banking channels.

In April, the inflow of remittances from Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, UK, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman) and EU countries amounted to $332.43 million, $245.33 million, $198.00 million, $131.82 million, $127.12 million and $31.14 million respectively compared with the inflow of $263.80 million, $232.05 million, $186.83 million, $111.39 million, $115.37 million and $35.04 million respectively in April 2011.

Remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries during April 2012 amounted to $75.18 million as against $85.94 million received in the same month of the last fiscal year.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2012.