Pakistan receives record $29.4 bn remittances in 2020-21 fiscal

PAKISTAN received record

29. billion remittances during the financial year 2020-21 as non-resident Pakistanis continued to send over 2 billion foreign exchange for the 1 th consecutive month in June, latest data shows.

State Bank of Pakistan, the country’s central bank, said workers’ remittances registered a substantial .2 billion, or 27 percent year-onyear growth, improving the country’s external sector position despite the challenging global economic conditions.

“This is the fastest growth in remittances since the financial year 2002-0 ,” the central bank said.

Pakistan received 2 billion in remittances during the financial year 2019-20. The government has set 1 billion in remittances for the present fiscal year of 2021-22.

The total in ows from the Middle East during 2020-21 were 17.09 billion, accounting for 5 .1 percent of the total remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis during the year.

In addition to the Middle East and Gulf region, the United Kingdom ( .1 billion), and the United States ( 2.7 billion) also emerged as major contributors to the remittances in 2020-21, re ecting year-onyear growth of 5 percent despite the pandemic.

The in ows from EU countries remained strong as the remittances reached 2.709 billion during 2020-21 compared to 1.77 billion in the previous fiscal, showing a growth of 52. per cent.

Overseas Pakistanis residing in the UAE and Saudi Arabia continued to play the lead role as they remitted a record 1 .77 billion during July-June 2021 compared to

12.22 billion in the corresponding fiscal period, re ecting a strong 12. per cent growth despite difficult times in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.