Pakistan's Remittances Rise 14% to $14.8 Billion in Four Months, Led by Saudi Arabia and UAE

The July-October figures, which Gulf News attributed to State Bank of Pakistan data released on Tuesday, show that the Iran war and the disruption around the Strait of Hormuz have not yet hurt one of Pakistan's main sources of foreign currency. Remittances help pay for imports and support household incomes, and they ease pressure on the country's external accounts. Millions of Pakistanis work in the Gulf.

Inflows reached $3.9 billion in October alone. That was 13.8 per cent more than in October last year and 8.5 per cent more than in September. Separately, Pakistan's official news agency APP put first-quarter remittances at $10.87 billion, a 14 per cent increase, which is consistent with the four-month total.

Saudi Arabia remained the largest source, at $3.668 billion for the four months, up 16.5 per cent. Workers there sent $981.6 million in October. The UAE was second with $3.051 billion, up 13.5 per cent, including $815.9 million in October. Growth from the UAE was slightly slower than the 15.2 per cent recorded in the same period a year earlier.

The United Kingdom grew fastest among the large sources. Inflows from Britain rose 19.2 per cent to $2.226 billion, compared with growth of 5.4 per cent a year earlier. European Union countries sent $1.866 billion, other Gulf Cooperation Council states $1.374 billion and the United States $1.259 billion.

State Bank governor Jameel Ahmad has set a remittance target of $45 billion for the financial year, after inflows of more than $41 billion last year. Reaching it would require about $30.2 billion over the eight months to June.