Remittances and Financial Inclusion: Micro-econometric Evidences from Pakistan

This study investigates the impact of foreign remittances on financial inclusion in Pakistan. Using the household-level data of Pakistan Standard of Living and Measurement (PSLM) for the year 2014-15, this study tests whether the remittances have any impact on households' use of formal financial services offered by the formal financial institutions or not. We specify the equation in Logit framework and estimate through the maximum likelihood method. The study finds that there are significant chances that financial inclusion will increase with the increase in the amount of remittances inflows. This is true in the case of both foreign remittances and total remittances. Pakistan's financial system needs to make it easier for migrants to send inflows into the country to make the most out of remittances.