She was speaking at the launch of "Send Home Money" campaign at the Pakistan High Commission on Thursday evening, which has been funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) and Profile Business Intelligence.
"Strong capital inflows, remittances as well as Foreign Direct and Portfolio Investment have contributed to the stability of the exchange rate and been an essential factor that has under gird macroeconomic stability," she said.
The High Commissioner noted that last year remittances from overseas Pakistanis were $4.6 billion and in the current financial year they were expected to exceed $5 billion, which would mark a record high. The month of March 2007, saw the highest ever increase in remittances in Pakistan's history when a record amount of $520 million was received.
UK was an important source of remittance being home to close to a million non-resident Pakistanis, Dr Lodhi said. It is today the fourth biggest source of remittances and these are expected to rise to $500 million this year.
She appreciated the extraordinary response from the Pakistani Diaspora in the wake of the October 2005 quake in AJK and the NWFP, which sent record amounts of assistance to those affected by the disaster. "This aid was not only directed at emergency relief, but also represented help in support of rebuilding houses and schools."