According to a statement made by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the oversea workers’ have remitted $14157.65 million in a period of 9 months of the fiscal year 2015-16, registering a growth of 4.14% compared to the $13594.95 million remittance in the same period last year. The statement further explained how remittance levels were 3.14% lower during March 2016 compared to February 2016 and lower from March 2015 levels by 8.69%.
The following shows the country wise distribution of the remittance sent over to Pakistan by overseas Pakistanis in the month of March 2016:
- United Arab Emirates ($428.1 million)
- United Kingdom ($233.27 million)
- United States ($260.97 million)
- Saudi Arabia ($483.21 million)
- Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (excluding Saudi Arabia and UAE) ($201.3 million)
- EU countries ($33.3 million)
A Rocky Road Ahead
It should be noted here that the GCC countries contribute 64% to the inflow of foreign currency in Pakistan. This can prove to be an issue in the future as the world has seen quite the dip in the oil market, forcing the GCC governments’ hands on spending too much on their infrastructure.
This can result in an economic slowdown in growth in Saudi Arabia, UAE and other Gulf countries. And given the fact that the majority of oversea workers in the GCC region are labor workers, this cut back can result in a major decrease in Pakistan’s foreign remittance levels in the future. Future policy makers need to take this information into account.
As for European and Western countries, an increase was seen from $91.51 million in March 2015 to $120.92 million in March 2016, in the combined remittances received by Switzerland, Australia, Japan, Norway, Canada and some other countries.
