KARACHI: The inflows of home remittances maintained a healthy growth, surging to USD 9.53 billion in the first quarter (July to September) of this fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26).
According the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the inflow of remittances reported a notable increase of 8.4 percent or USD 700 million in the first three months of the current fiscal year as compared with a similar period of the last financial year (FY25), in which USD 8.8 billion home remittances were arrived.
Remittances from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remained the highest, rising 7.2 percent to USD 2.31 billion in the first quarter of FY26, compared to USD 2.16 billion in the same period last year. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranked second, recording a 16 percent increase to USD 2 billion during July-September of the current fiscal year.
Pakistan receives $3.1bn in remittances in August 2025
The United Kingdom ranked third, with remittance inflows of USD 1.3 billion, reflecting a 2 percent increase over the same period. In contrast, inflows from the United States (US) declined by 10.5 percent, falling to USD 806 million in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
Commenting on higher remittances inflows from Saudi Arabia, Sadiq Nawaz, a Jeddah base a financial and investment expert, said the sharp rise in remittance inflows highlights the vital role of Pakistani workers in the Saudi job market.
He noted that Pakistanis living in Saudi Arabia remain the largest contributors to overall remittances,as the Kingdom continues to offer significant employment opportunities under its Vision 2030 program. According to the SBP, remittances from Saudi Arabia exceeded USD 6 billion in FY2024, accounting for over 25 percent of Pakistan’s total inflows
“Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 requires a wide range of professionals, including white-collar experts in technology, finance, and engineering, as well as blue-collar workers in logistics and construction,” he explained. Nawaz added that the growing demand for labor in Saudi Arabia will further boost remittances to Pakistan.
Pakistan’s government and private sector should invest in the capacity building of the human resource not only to meet the local requirement of the emerging fields but to export its manpower and earn foreign exchange through remittances on a sustainable basis, he said and added. With further investment in digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, and financial technology, Pakistan could position itself as a regional hub for innovation.
As the more qualified emigrants coming from Pakistan, the inflows of remittances will continue to increase and will support the country to manage its macroeconomic indicators, Sadiq Nawaz added. He further suggested that the government should also collaborate with the authorities of the host country to arrange job placements of Pakistani workers in different sectors.
According to the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment (BEOC), Pakistan’s manpower exports to Saudi Arabia remained the highest share with 363,559 workers settled in different cities of the brotherly state.
Ibrahim Amin, the financial analyst, said that overseas workers are assets of Pakistan with valuable contributions and services for the country, hence, they should be provided different and easy options for sending remittances easily to the homeland.
The government should intensify its efforts in collaboration with banks and fintech operators to launch services that encourage overseas Pakistanis to send remittances to banking channels, instead of Hawala/Hundi, he said.
Pakistan could easily receive nearly USD 1 billion the inflows of remittances every month from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia provided overseas Pakistanis prefer to use legal and banking channels for sending remittances to their families based in Pakistan, he added.
Year on year basis, the workers’ remittances recorded an inflow of USD 3.2 billion in September 2025 compared to USD 2.859 billion in September 2024, showing an increase of 11.3 percent. Month on Month, home remittances in September 2025 are also 1.4 percent higher than August inflows of amounted to USD 3.138
Remittances inflows during September 2025 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia USD750.9 million, UAE amounted to USD 677.1 million, UK worth USD 454.8 million and USD 269.0 million from USA.
The government approved Rs. 30 billion against the incentive scheme for commercial banks to process remittance inflows. In the outgoing financial year, the remittances inflows received by the country registered a record value of USD 38.3 billion.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
