Remittances Drop by Over 14% in November to Lowest Since August 2020

Remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis declined to a 27-month low of $2.1 billion in November as expatriates switched to unauthorized channels to send remittances to fetch a higher exchange rate. Remittances in November were down 14.3 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis compared to $2.46 billion reported during the same month of the previous fiscal year (FY22). On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, the inflows of remittances registered a decline of 5 percent compared to the figure of $2.21 billion reported in October 2022. The remittance inflows have also posted a decline of 10 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year (5MFY23) compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year. Remittances stood at $12 billion during 5MFY23 compared to inflows of $13.2 billion registered in the same period of the previous fiscal year (5MFY22). A breakdown of the numbers shows that the highest inflows were registered from Saudi Arabia, standing at $498 million, followed by United Arab Emirates (UAE) at $378 million, the United Kingdom (UK) at $299 million, European Union (EU) countries at $245 million, and the United States (US) at $229 million. The YoY decrease in remittances from Saudi Arabia and UAE is 20 percent whereas the decrease on a MoM basis from both countries is over 12 percent. It is pertinent to mention here that the black market is offering a much higher exchange rate compared to the one being offered by official channels including commercial banks which is likely the major reason for the continuous decline in remittance inflows in recent months.