Remittance inflow to rebound in FY18: BB

August 29, 2017 00:00:00

The flow of remittance in the country is expected to rebound in the current fiscal (2017-18) as Bangladesh Bank (BB) has taken measures to streamline legal channel for encouraging NRBs to send home money, reports BSS.

As part of its move to plug in the informal channel, the central bank has already put some mobile banking operators under close supervision as it has identified some mobile accounts that have been used for sending home remittances illegally, Deputy Governor of the BB Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hassan told the news agency.

There was a falling trend in the inflow of remittances since fiscal year 2014-15, but the situation witnessed a change at the beginning of fiscal year 2017-18 as expatriates sent home US$ 1,115.57 million in July, up by $110.06 million from the corresponding month in the previous fiscal 2016-17 (FY17), according to the BB data.

Migrant workers sent $712.03 million in the first 18 days of August in FY18, which was $24.77 million up from the same period of the previous fiscal.

According to the BB, the country received a total of $15,316.91 million in FY15, $14,931.15 million in FY16 and $12,769 million in FY17.

"The recent flow of remittance indicates that it is gradually increasing and this trend is likely to continue throughout the FY 18. The BB is trying to create awareness among the expatriates to send remittances through proper channels," said Mr Hassan.

Inflow of remittance witnessed a record fall in February of FY 17 as migrant workers sent home only $940.75 million.

According to Mr Razee Hassan, the central bank sent letters to the Bangladesh missions aboard for taking steps to close illegal bKash or Rocket agents to stop sending home money by migrant workers.

Earlier, two investigation teams visited Malaysia in March last to find out the reasons behind the downward trend in the country's remittance inflow.

During the visit, the members of the teams found that the NRBs were using informal channels for sending their money home due to various reasons, including easy procedures and no procedural costs for the illegal ones.