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Remittances fall 14.9pc to $2.14bn in January

Remittancesss - Remittances fall 14.9pc to $2.14bn in January

KARACHI: Remittances from overseas workers declined by 14.9 percent on a month-on-month (MoM) basis in January 2022, amounting to $2.14 billion.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said, “At $2.14 billion in January 2022, workers’ remittances remained above $2 billion for the 20th consecutive month.” However, this has been the lowest monthly remittance figure since August 2020.

“Remittances declined 5 percent compared to January 2021, partly reflecting an easing of travel restrictions. Compared to the previous month, they fell by 14.9 percent due to seasonality,” said the SBP.

Remittances inflow during December 2021 stood at $2.5 billion. However, during the 7 months of FY22 (July-January), remittances have risen to a record $18 billion, 9.1 percent higher than the same period last year, added the central bank.

Remittance inflows during January 2022 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($540 million), United Arab Emirates ($374 million), United Kingdom ($320 million) and United States of America ($208 million), the SBP data showed.

Pakistan heavily relies on remittance inflows to boost its foreign currency reserves that remain under pressure due to a high current account deficit, imports and external debt repayments.

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