Pakistan’s recent economic history shows why it has been so difficult to service the external debt and why this will continue to be a challenge in the future. First, external debt has not been used to expand public investment for many years now; instead, it has largely supported government consumption. Second, the ability to service the debt has been weakened by poor export performance. And while maintaining external balance has been helped by the growth of remittances, this very growth has also generated pressure on the exchange rate to appreciate, thereby undermining the incentive to export. Third, the pro-consumption bias of the external debt has been exacerbated by the increasing reliance on quick-disbursing funds provided by international financial institutions to promote policy reforms and rebuild international reserves. Fourth, debt terms have been deteriorating for a while as interest rates applicable to Pakistan have risen.
India Business News: Overseas remittances jumped to $2.4 billion in Dec 2023 from a nine-month low of $1.9 billion in Nov. The highest remittance ever was recorded in June
Despite a challenging global economic landscape, Vietnam continues to stand resilient as one of the top 10 recipients of overseas remittances worldwide, with an estimated 14 billion USD last year, according to the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief and the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD).
The overseas remittances sent to Ho Chi Minh City hit 9.46 billion USD in 2023, up 43.3% compared to 2022, while the earlier estimate was 8.9 billion USD.
The flow of overseas remittances to Ho Chi Minh City is estimated to reach about 8.92 billion USD in 2023, up 35% year on year, said Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s Branch in HCM City Nguyen Duc Lenh.