Remittances at two-year high during Ramazan

The quantum of remittances increased to almost $3 billion in March, taking it to the highest level since April 2022, primarily due to Ramazan, according to the central bank’s data. The total remittances in March stood at $2.95bn compared to $2.25bn in Feb, a month-on-month increase of 31.2pc. The year-on-year increase was 16.4pc, compared to the inflows of $2.54bn in March 2023. This is the highest remittances inflow since April 2022, when overseas Pakistanis sent $3.12bn, as per the State Bank’s data. The country-wise breakdown for March shows that the highest inflow was from Saudi Arabia at $70.31m, up from 54m in Feb. Inflows from the US stood at $37.25m, up from 28.74m in Feb. Similarly, overseas Pakistanis sent $54.85m from the UAE, up from $38.48m last month.