Workers’ remittances maintained their strong momentum in October as Pakistanis working abroad sent home $2.5 billion, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.

The central bank said October witnessed an increase of 10.02 per cent in remittances on a year-on-year basis. Remittances were only marginally lower as compared to last month.

“In addition to remaining above $2 billion since June 2020, this is the eighth consecutive month when remittances have been close to or above $2.5 billion,” a statement issued by the SBP read.

On a cumulative basis, Pakistan received $10.6 billion worth of remittances during the first four months of this fiscal year, showing growth of 11.9 per cent over the same period last year.

The data showed the inflows from Saudi Arabia clocked in at $2.7 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) $2.0 billion, the United Kingdom (UK) $1.5 billion and the United States (US) $1.1 billion.

“Proactive policy measures by the Government and SBP to incentivize the use of formal channels and altruistic transfers to Pakistan amid the pandemic have positively contributed towards the sustained improvement in remittance inflows since last year.” the central bank said.