Expat remittances surge in Saudi Arabia, hit two-year high
The remittances in March increased by 4% against the same month last year
Cairo: Monthly remittances of expatriates in Saudi Arabia reached SR11.9 billion in March, marking their highest in nearly two years, according to official figures.
The remittances in March increased by 4 per cent against the same month last year, figures from the Saudi Central Bank showed.
The rise marked the highest since June 2022, the bank noted, according to Saudi news website Akhbar24.
Moreover, the remittances registered a SR2.6 billion increase or a 28per cent rise in March compared to February of the current year.
In February, the expat remittances in the kingdom dropped by 4 per cent against the same month last year, the lowest in more than four years.
The February remittances decreased to reach around SR9.3 billion, the lowest monthly transfers since June 2019.
The kingdom is home to a large community of migrant workers.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has stepped up efforts to provide jobs to its citizens as part of an employment policy known as “Saudisation”.
Last May, the Saudi General Authority for Statistics, citing a recent census, put the kingdom’s total population at 32.2 million with foreigners making up around 13.4 million or 41.5 per cent.
Asian nationals from three countries accounted for over 42 per cent of the total foreigners in Saudi Arabia, according to the census figures.
Bangladeshi nationals took the lead with 2.1 million, or around 15.08 per cent of the overall expatriates in Saudi Arabia, followed by Indians with 1.88 million and Pakistanis with 1.81 million.