Pakistan remittances to reach all-time-high in March: SBP governor

Money sent home by overseas Pakistanis will touch an all-time high in March, crossing $4 billion, State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmed said on Monday.

He made the remarks while addressing a gong ceremony at the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

The remittance data is likely to be released soon.

The government earlier expected that remittances would reach $36 billion. However, the governor expected that remittances might touch $38 billion mark — a record level.

The SBP governor said that the remittances in upcoming months might be between $4 to $5 billion per month.

The higher inflows would help bolster the foreign exchange reserves to reach $14 billion before end of this financial year, he said.

The total foreign debt payable for the current fiscal year was around $26 billion, of this nearly $16 billion has been rolled over or refinanced.

Out of $10 billion, nearly $8 billion has been paid off while $2 billion has to be arranged by end of this fiscal year.