Declining remittances

OVERSEAS Pakistanis are sending fewer dollars back home these days, with workers’ remittances dropping 13pc to $22.7bn during the 10-month period between July and April of this fiscal year as compared to the last one. The loss of $3.4bn in home remittances nearly matches the upcoming debt repayments of $3.7bn during May-June. The amount is also equal to the ‘financing gap’ that Pakistan has been struggling to arrange for the restoration of the IMF funding programme. This loss becomes even more glaring considering the depleted forex reserves that are just enough to pay the bill for five weeks of controlled imports amid growing fears of a default. The decline in home remittances has been across the board. Yet the Middle East, which contributes over half of Pakistan’s total remittances, is the key region playing a bigger part in this decline with Pakistani workers living in countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE having sent $2.5bn fewer dollars.