Karachi
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday said that the inflow of workers’ remittances rose to an all-time monthly high of $2.8 billion in April 2021, which is 56 percent higher than the same month last year.
On a cumulative basis, remittances have also surpassed previous records.
At $24.2 billion in July-April FY21, remittances grew by 29 percent over the same period of the last year and have already crossed the full FY20 level by more than $1 billion.
Remittance inflows during July-April FY21 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($6.4 billion), United Arab Emirates ($5.1 billion), United Kingdom ($3.3 billion) and the United States ($2.2 billion).
Proactive policy measures by the government and SBP to encourage more inflows through formal channels, curtailed cross border travel in the face of Covid-19, altruistic transfers to Pakistan amid the pandemic, orderly foreign exchange market conditions and, more recently, Eid-related inflows have contributed to record levels of remittances this year.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday praised overseas Pakistanis for sending a record $2.8 billion in remittances in April.
“I have always believed overseas Pakistanis to be our greatest asset,” the premier said in a Twitter post.
“In April, your remittances rose to an all-time high of $2.8bn.
Remitting $24.2bn in the first 10 months of FY21, you have broken the record level achieved in the entire FY20,” he said and added, “Thank you for your faith in Naya Pakistan.” —TLTP
