Karachi: Remittances by overseas Pakistan increased to USD 19.62 billion during the Fiscal Year 2017-2018, according to a news report. This is an increase of 1.4% from the USD 19.35 billion collected during last year. Adding on this, the State Bank of Pakistan has reported that the inflows during June fell to USD 1.59 billion, a decrease of 13.36%, from last year’s USD 1.84 billion.
During this period, the highest source of remittances has remained Saudi Arabia, with inflows amounting to USD 4.86 billion, although this is still 11.17% less than previous years. Low remittances can be attributed to strict taxation laws introduced by the Saudi authorities. Remittances from other Gulf countries have also decreased by 7.19% during FY18, whereas inflows from the European Union recorded a growth of 35.92% during the same period. The largest increase has come from Spain, at a growth of 132.06%, whereas Oman has accounted for the steepest fall at 13.61%.
