Pakistan’s remittances recorded at $2 billion for August – central bank

(Reuters) – Pakistan’s foreign worker remittances were recorded at $2.09 billion for the month of August, the country’s central bank said in a statement on Monday, up slightly from $2.02 billion in July.

Under a loan programme agreed in July to avert a default on Pakistan’s sovereign debt, the International Monetary Fund told authorities to limit the premium between the local rupee’s interbank and open market rates to 1.25% over any given five business days.

“The major reason for the decline in remittances compared to last year is the huge gap between interbank, open market and black market rate which peaked at 10% during August ’23,” said Tahir Abbas, head of research at Karachi based investment company, Arif Habib Limited.

The rupee has gained 2% against the dollar during the last four trading sessions, closing at 301.16 rupees on Monday. The gap between the interbank and open market has narrowed from highs of over 8% following regulatory changes and enforcement from law authorities.