Remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis stood at $2.20 billion in September, a six-month high, mainly due to operations against illegal exchange markets and reference handi. According to media reports, the crackdown has forced overseas Pakistanis to send remittances through legal channels, leading to expectations of an improvement in the current account deficit, but remittances remain lower than market expectations. Experts had expected remittances to be between $2.30 billion and $2.50 billion in September. The State Bank data showed that remittances increased by 5 percent in September compared to August, from $2.09 billion to $2.20 billion.

The largest source of remittances was Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries. This trend of increasing remittances is expected to continue in the future. However, remittances declined by 11% year-on-year to $2.20 billion from $2.48 billion in September last year. Total remittances during the first quarter of the current fiscal year declined by 20 percent to $6.33 billion from $7.89 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts say that the crackdown on illegal exchange markets is the main reason for the increase in remittances. They also predict that remittances will improve further from next month as the crackdown takes full effect.

 
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)