Exchange companies’ dollar sales to banks rise 30% YoY to $248.7 million in August

Exchange companies sold $248.7 million of dollars to banks in August, up 30% from a year earlier, according to figures released by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP). Their combined sales for July and August reached $479.5 million, compared with $465.5 million in the same two months of FY26, though the protracted Gulf conflict has fuelled concern.

July was the weaker month, with exchange companies selling $230.7 million to banks, down from $290.6 million a year earlier. ECAP Chairman Malik Bostan said inflows could have been roughly $50 million higher over the two months had political unrest in Kashmir not disrupted activity. Conditions in AJK are now stabilising and inflows are picking up, while ECAP has urged the SBP to restore full internet access across the region, where partial access has already returned.

The country projects remittances of $44 billion in FY27, against $41.5 billion in FY26, and so far the Gulf conflict has left those flows untouched. Reports that Pakistani workers are returning from Gulf states have nonetheless raised fears about the outcome if fighting drags on. A currency expert added that the UAE, once the region's leading economy, is now working to keep expatriates in place, a development that may suggest a grim outlook for Dubai.