Remittances from Pakistani workers employed abroad surged to $15.8 billion in the first six months of this fiscal year, 11.3% higher than a year earlier, the central bank data showed on Friday.
Analysts said remittance flows continued to maintain an upward trend and hit the highest level for the six months in July-December FY2022.
“Remittances to the country stayed healthy underpinned by the government incentives to the expats for sending money home through official channels and the crackdown on the operators of illegal sources like hundi and hawala,” said Tahir Abbas, the research head at Arif Habib Limited.
Limited air travel of overseas Pakistanis to the homeland due to the pandemic curbs in various regions also resulted in more fund transfers through legal channels and supported the rise in remittances, he added. “Workers’ remittances rose to their highest-ever for the first half of this fiscal year and we expect this trend will continue in the second half. Remittances are likely to increase more than $31 billion in FY2022,” Abbas said.
