Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan threatened to start a civil disobedience movement in December of last year after spending more than 15 months in jail on what he described as “politically motivated charges” and after several unsuccessful protests, according to Aljazeera.
“As part of the movement, we will urge overseas Pakistanis to limit remittances and start a boycott campaign,” read a message posted on his account on X.
However, recent data from Pakistan’s central bank indicates that remittances, a vital component of the nation’s economy, rose by 25% in January compared to the same month in 2024, despite Khan’s call to halt them. Pakistanis living abroad remitted more than $3 billion in remittances in January, according to data made public by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Remittances surpassed $3 billion for the second consecutive month. Khan may be losing the fight to utilize remittances as a weapon against the government, according to the data. In actuality, Pakistan received $34.1 billion in remittances in 2024, the greatest amount in its history. This is a 32 percent increase over 2023, when Pakistanis living abroad paid home $25.7 billion.
None of this was surprising, according to Sajid Amin Javed, a senior economist at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Islamabad. He stated that the majority of remittances given by Pakistanis living abroad, especially those in Gulf nations, are intended to help their relatives who are in need back home. “In essence, the money that Pakistani citizens send home is not their choice. To pay for their living expenses, they must transmit it. They have no say in the matter, with rare exceptions,” Javed told Al Jazeera.
Javed, however, identified other causes for the recent spike in remittances. “Pakistanis living abroad must send more money to cover their families’ expenses since the rupee’s appreciation against the US dollar last year and the current stable exchange rate,” he stated.
After declining by over 60% between 2022 and 2024, the Pakistani rupee—which was Asia’s worst-performing currency in relation to the US dollar—has suddenly stabilized over the last 12 months at 278 and 280 rupees per US dollar. Higher remittance flows have also resulted from greater trust in legitimate banking institutions as a result of the government’s tight restrictions and crackdown on illicit money transfer methods, the economist noted. Since Pakistani remittances are primarily driven by household spending demands, their nature is inelastic to political narratives. The great majority of Pakistani senders are forced to keep providing for their families, Javed said, while some people especially ardent supporters may heed their leader’s advice.
