Karachi: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced an increase of 9.35% in remittances collected from overseas Pakistanis during November, a news source reported. According to the central bank, the current level of remittances now stand at USD 1.81 billion; improving the country’s capacity to make foreign debt repayments and import payments.
SBP reported that in the same month last year (2018), the remittances stood at USD 1.66 billion. Arif Habib Limited Head of Research Samiullah Tariq stated that the new number was encouraging – since these figures had never crossed the USD 1.7 billion mark for November, as per data of the previous four to five years.
Tariq said that SBP had recorded comparatively lower remittance inflows during the first few months of the current fiscal year 2019-20. However, he added, that the increase recorded in November had helped cover this gap. He also revealed that the current account balance had shifted from deficit to surplus in October, and they expected the same trend for November.
