Pakistani Workers remittances fall 11%, to 31-month low

ISLAMABAD: Overseas workers’ remittances fell by 11% during the first seven months (Jul-Jan) of the fiscal year 2022–23, from $17.98 billion to $16.01 billion in the time period under consideration. Remittances sent home by foreign workers totaled US$1.9 billion in January 2023 on an annual basis, a 13 percent decrease from the $2.18 billion sent home in the same month of the previous year. When compared to the inflow of $2.1 billion seen in December 2022, the remittances in January 2023 also saw a decline of 9.9 percent month over month.

Remittance inflows during January 2023 were primarily from 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), according to recent data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday. 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 Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Greece, the United Kingdom, and Ireland totaled $65.6 million, $21.9 million, $6.3 million, $6.5 million, $7.7 million, and $10.0 million, respectively.

According to recent data made public by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday, workers sent in remittances totaling $6.0 million, $9.7 million, $3.3 million, $47.1 million, $37.6 million, and $5.5 million, respectively, from Malaysia, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, and Japan. In the month under review, remittances from South Africa totaled $13.8 million, while those from South Korea totaled $8.5 million. Similar to that, $58.1 million came from other nations.