Remittances hit 6-month peak at $2.2b.

KARACHI -- The remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis hit a six-month high at $2.20 billion in September 2023, as expatriate workers increasingly used official channels following a government crackdown on currency smugglers and the illicit Hawala-Hundi traders.

The increase in inflows sparked hopes that the current account deficit would be moderate for the month. Remittances were, however, lower than market expectations of $2.30-2.50 billion.

According to State Bank of Pakistan's (SBP) data, the workers' remittances improved 5% to $2.20 billion in September compared to $2.09 billion in the previous month. The increase is expected to provide support to the rupee in maintaining its winning streak against the US dollar in both inter-bank and open markets.

On a year-on-year basis, however, the remittances dropped 11% in September compared to inflows of $2.48 billion in the same month of last year.

Overall, in the...