Remittance flow in April declines by 11pc over March

The flow of inward remittance decreased by over 11 per cent in this April over that of the previous month, mainly due to ongoing crisis in the Middle East countries, officials said. Bangladeshi nationals working abroad sent US$976.14 million in April 2011, which is $126.84 million less than the previous month. In March, the amount of remittance was $1.103 billion, according to the central bank statistics released Wednesday. "It's a normal trend of inward remittance. But we're very cautious over the Middle East situation," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE. The inflow of remittance may fall further, if the existing crisis in the region lingers, he said, adding that the central bank is closely monitoring the latest developments there. The country received $9.587 billion remittance during the July-April period of fiscal 2010-11, registering a 4.29 per cent growth over the same period of the previous fiscal, the BB's data showed. The central bank earlier took a series of measures to encourage the expatriate Bangladeshis remit their hard earned money through formal banking channel instead of the illegal 'hundi' system to boost the country's foreign exchange reserve. The foreign exchange reserve stood at $10.41 billion Wednesday, despite nominal growth of remittance from the Bangladeshis working abroad. Four state-run commercial banks and dozens of private commercial banks have stepped up efforts to increase remittance flow from the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy and the United States. "We're still serious about increasing the remittance inflow through official channels to meet our internal foreign exchange demand," an official of a leading commercial bank said.