Inflows of workers’ remittances maintained a declining trend and fell 9.77 per cent during the first five months of this fiscal year (FY23).

According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), workers’ remittances recorded an inflow of $12 billion during July-Nov of FY23 compared to $13.3 billion in the same period of last fiscal year (FY22), depicting a decline of $1.3 billion.

Home remittances maintained over $2 billion in monthly inflows in November 2022. These inflows are the lowest since Aug 2020. Leading corridors, including Saudi Arabia, UAE and UK, witnessed a downward trend during the first five months of this fiscal year. Inflows from Saudi Arabia fell by 13 per cent to $ 2.957 billion during July-Nov of FY23. Despite the decline in inflows, Saudi Arabia is the most significant contributor to overall inflows, with a 25 per cent share.

During the period under review, home remittances from UAE amounted to $2.26 billion, falling 11 per cent. In addition, remittances from the UK fell by 8 per cent to $1.66 billion in the first five months of FY23.

Month-on-month basis, remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis decreased by 4.8 per cent during Nov 2022 and by 14.3 per cent on YoY basis.