Pakistan Records Highest Ever Monthly Remittance Inflows in May

Remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis increased by 54 percent year-on-year (YoY) to $3.2 billion in May 2024 compared to inflows of $2.1 billion registered in the same period last year, according to the data on remittances released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday. This is the highest-ever inflow of remittances recorded for a singly month. On a month on month basis, remittances increased by 15 percent compared to $2.8 billion in April 2024. The growth in inflows was reported as seasonal as overseas Pakistanis remit more than the usual amount ahead of Eid ul Azha to their relatives. Expatriate Pakistanis, mainly living in non-Muslim countries, usually make their religious obligations of sacrifice in Pakistan. A breakdown of the numbers shows that the highest inflows were registered from Saudi Arabia, coming in at $819 million, followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at $668 million, the United Kingdom (UK) at $473 million, European Union (EU) countries at $340 million, and the United States (US) at $360 million. In the 11 months (July-May) of the fiscal year 2023-24 (11MFY24), remittances stood at $27.1 billion, up 7.7 percent YoY compared to remittances of $25.1 billion registered in the same period last year.