Remittances fall over 12pc in September

Remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis declined to $2.4 billion in September as the open and grey markets were offering much higher rates than interbank. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday said remittances decreased by 10.5 per cent month-on-month and 12.3pc year-on-year in September. The inflows in August were $2.72bn while they were $2.78bn in September 2021. The central bank said that with the cumulative inflow of $7.7bn during July-September, the remittances decreased by 6.3pc as compared to $8.19bn in the same period last year. Currency dealers said the real cause of low remittances during September was the difference in dollar rates in the official and illegal markets. “The open and interbank markets offer almost the same rate. There isn’t any significant difference in the dollar rates as far as the kerb market is concerned,” said Malik Bostan, chairman of the Exchange Companies Asso­ci­ation of Pakistan.