Amid Inflation Battle, Pakistanis Living Abroad Sent $2.5 Billion Home In March

Responding to the government’s appeal for more hard currency remittances, Pakistanis living abroad have sent $2.5 billion home in March.

The country’s central bank disclosed this development on Monday.

The remittances came mainly from Pakistanis living in the United States, Britain and the Middle East.

The State Bank of Pakistan said the sum represents a 27.4% increase compared to February and is the highest in seven past months.

Officials also said the announcement offered some hope for improving Pakistan’s ailing economy.

Pakistan is grappling with one of its worst economic crises.

The country has been hit by last summer’s devastating floods that killed 1,739 people, destroyed two million homes and caused $30 billion in damages.

This is as the country has also been hit by a wave of violence.

Pakistan is in the final phase of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure a crucial installment of a $1.1 billion loan from a $6 billion bailout package.

Since December, the tranche has been on hold over Pakistan’s failure to meet the terms of a previous deal signed in 2019 by then-Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Economists fear a failure to get the IMF loan would spark inflation.