Business

Pakistan pockets $13.3b in remittances

Amount 15% higher than comparative period previous year.

Our Correspondent April 10, 2015

Inflows from Saudi Arabia were the largest source of remittances in the first three quarters of 2014-15. STOCK IMAGE

KARACHI: Overseas Pakistanis sent remittances amounting to $13.3 billion in the first three quarters of 2014-15, translating into a year-on-year increase of 15%, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday.

Remittances amounted to $11.6 billion over the same nine-month period of the preceding fiscal year.

In March, Pakistanis based in foreign countries sent home $1.5 billion, which is 13.3% higher than the remittances received in the preceding month of February.

Inflows from Saudi Arabia were the largest source of remittances in the first three quarters of 2014-15. They amounted to over $4 billion in July-March, up 19.3% from the same nine months of 2013-14.

Remittances received in July-March from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) increased 28.8% to $2.9 billion on a year-on-year basis. Inflows from the UAE registered the largest increase from any major remittance-sending country during the last nine months, SBP data shows.

Remittances from the United States and the United Kingdom remained $1.8 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively, in July-March. The year-on-year increase in remittances from the US and the UK has been 2.6% and 2.3%, respectively.

Remittances from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, excluding Saudi Arabia and the UAE, clocked up at $1.5 billion in July-March, which is 14.9% higher than the remittances received from these countries in the same period of the preceding fiscal year.

Remittances from Kuwait in the first nine months of 2014-15 equalled $553.6 million while those from Oman, Bahrain and Qatar amounted to $484.3 million, $272.3 million and $250.37 million, respectively.

Remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and ‘other countries’ during March amounted to $90.48 million as opposed to $89.49 million received in March 2014.

In the last fiscal year, overseas Pakistanis sent home $15.8 billion, which was 13.7% higher than the remittances of $13.9 billion received in 2012-13.

The monthly average of remittances during the first nine months of 2014-15 remained $1.4 billion, which was up 15% from the monthly average of remittances amounting to $1.2 billion received in July-March of 2013-14.

Remittances in the first six months of the current fiscal year increased regardless of the strong wave of political instability that began in August with sit-ins by opposition parties and fizzled out after the attack on Army Public School in December.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th, 2015.

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COMMENTS (4)

JSM | 9 years ago | Reply @LuvPak: And kindly temper your response to Yemen conflict keeping this consideration in view.

ZUR | 9 years ago | Reply It is time now for Pakistani govt. to make some special arrangements for Overseas Pakistani including discounted housing schemes, well treatment at Pakistani airports, licensing etc. The situation is very pity when the same Pakistanis visit their own countries. They get absolutely no support in the system for them. In fact, the situation is the opposite as soon as the local system finds out that you are from out of the country, they try to swindle as much money as they can.