Remittances from overseas Pakistanis during the first five months of this fiscal year shot up by 15.5 per cent to $7.398 billion from $6.407bn a year earlier, the central bank said in a statement issued yesterday.
At the same time, there is fear that massive fall in oil prices could lead to retrenchment of thousands of Pakistanis working in the oil-rich Gulf countries. Over 40pc drop in oil prices can simply not be fully cushioned.
The State Bank reported that during November 2014, the inflow of workers’ remittances amounted to $1.320bn, which is 4.5pc lower than October 2014 but 16.8pc higher than November 2013.
The largest amount was received from Saudi Arabia. Other Gulf countries would also face a cut in their oil incomes which might ultimately hit Pakistan in the form of job cuts and low exports to these countries.
