Pakistan lost $3.7bn in remittances

The remittances sent by overseas Pakistani workers dipped month-on-month by 4 per cent and 10pc year-on-year to $2.1 billion in May. The latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday showed that the country lost $3.7bn in remittances during the first 11 months of FY23 mainly due to a wid­ening exchange rate gap. The inflows tumbled by 12.98pc to $24.831bn in 11MFY23 compared to $28.489bn in the same period of last fiscal year. The country has been struggling hard to get a $1.1bn tranche from the IMF for a year but the shrinking inflows of remittances could make it more difficult for the country to manage the external account with poor foreign exchange reserves of less than $4bn. Pakistan received $2.102bn in May compared to $2.198bn in April. It received $2.346bn in May last year. Currency dealers have consistently been drawing the attention of the government to address the reasons for the decline in remittances but no timely measures were taken to limit the growing role of the grey market which has practically replaced the exchange companies.