Remittances hit $3.89bn in October as SBP lifts forecast

Overseas Pakistanis sent home $3.89 billion in October, 13.8 per cent more than in the same month last year, the State Bank of Pakistan reported. Inflows for July to October, the first four months of the fiscal year, reached $14.8 billion, up 14 per cent from $13 billion in the same period a year earlier.

October's total was 8.5 per cent higher than the $3.6 billion received in September 2026 and compared with $3.42 billion in October 2025, according to the central bank's figures. Minute Mirror reported that the inflows remain a major source of foreign exchange, supporting the external account, economic activity and households that depend on money sent by relatives working abroad.

Speaking at a press conference after the monetary policy announcement, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmed said remittance inflows had held up during the first quarter of FY27 and were likely to beat earlier estimates. He said Pakistan could receive $45 billion in workers' remittances this fiscal year, against an earlier projection of $44 billion. The central bank raised its projections for remittances and foreign exchange reserves last month, citing stronger-than-expected inflows and an improved outlook for the external sector.

TechJuice reported that annual remittances now run at about $44 billion, close to 10 per cent of GDP and enough to cover nearly all of the country's external financing deficit. It put the number of Pakistanis living abroad at about 10 million and quoted a portfolio manager at East Capital describing remittances as "Pakistan's oil".

Annual inflows rose from about $16 billion in September 2014 to more than $43 billion by September 2026, TechJuice reported. It said gross foreign exchange reserves have grown nearly fivefold since 2023, when they covered about 1.5 months of imports and the country came close to defaulting on its international bonds. Inflation has fallen from a peak of 38 per cent to single digits, it reported, though it recently rose to 9.6 per cent.

The East Capital portfolio manager attributed the improvement to government stability, the IMF programme and rising remittance inflows, and said Pakistani equities returned 318 per cent in dollar terms over the period, an annualised 53 per cent.