Overseas Pakistani remittances seen at $44 billion next fiscal: Central bank

Remittances from overseas Pakistanis are expected to reach $44 billion in the fiscal year 2026-27, an increase from the record remittances of $41.5 billion received in the previous fiscal, the country’s central bank said on Friday.

Addressing a press conference, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jamil Ahmed said that despite making foreign payments of over $5 billion in the last fiscal year, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have exceeded $18 billion.

The SBP governor also said that due to several measures to stablise the economy over the past four years, Pakistan’s external debt has remained stable at around the $100 billion mark.

He added that new schemes are being introduced to make fund transfers even easier for overseas Pakistanis.

“Under these schemes, no additional financial burden will be placed on the remitters, as the transaction costs will be borne by the banks themselves,” he said.

He said that between 2015 and 2022, Pakistan’s external debt grew at an average of $6 billion annually, however, since 2022, it has maintained a level of approximately $100 billion.