March 2022: Remittances hit all-time monthly high

KARACHI: During the month of March, the remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis reached an all-time high of $2.8bn, as per the statement given by the central bank on Thursday.

The bank further stated that the increase was 3.2% more than that last year. During the same month in the year 2021, the remittance value was $2.7bn.

The research head at Arif Habib Limited – Tahir Abbas stated that the increase in remittance inflow was mostly due to Ramzan, and it will also reflect in April stats.

Talking to a local media outlet, the company head of Pak-Kuwait Investment stated that the inflow worth $2.8bn in March was much higher than the expectations of the market.

According to SBP, the remittance flow during the previous month was largely obtained from Saudi Arabia amounting to $678mn, the UAE ($515mn), the UK ($401mn), and the US ($300mn).

However, a breakdown of the data showed that this year, the remittances from Saudi Arabia and the UAE slowed down.

The incentives taken by the government for expatriates to send money conveniently through official means helped increase the inflow of remittances. Moreover, cross-border mobility was limited because of the global pandemic, resulting in expats transferring more cash to their families back home to help them during the Covid-19 crisis. This is why the growth of the remittance dropped during January and February owing to the seasonal factors, and ease of travel restrictions.