Foreign nationals residing in Bangladesh repatriated US$130.58 million of their income during the July-April period of the current fiscal year (FY) 2023-24.
Indian citizens sent the highest amount, repatriating $50.60 million from Bangladesh during the first ten months of this fiscal year.
Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali provided the information before the Jatiya Sangsad on Monday in response to a question from independent lawmaker Abdul Kader Azad (AK Azad) during a parliamentary question-and-answer session chaired by Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury. While mentioning the aforementioned ten-month repatriation figures by foreign nationals, the finance minister also told the House that no data on the annual income of foreign nationals residing in Bangladesh is available with the Bangladesh Bank.
According to the information provided by the finance minister, Chinese citizens repatriated the second-highest amount of foreign currency from Bangladesh, at $14.56 million.
This was followed by Sri Lankans $12.71 million, Japanese $6.89 million and Koreans $6.21 million during the July-April period.
Thai citizens repatriated $5.30 million, while citizens of the United Kingdom, Pakistan, the United States, Malaysia and other countries repatriated $3.59 million, $3.24 million, $3.17 million, $2.40 million and $21.92 million, respectively, during the same period.
Gross reserves as of May $24.16b: Minister
The finance minister informed the House that the gross amount of the country's foreign exchange reserves as of May this year was $24,161.4 million, or $24.16 billion, reports United News of Bangladesh (UNB).
"According to the BPM6 of the IMF, the amount of the reserve is $18,633.5 million," he said, referring to a different calculation method used by the IMF.
In response to a query from Jatiya Party lawmaker ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader, elected from Patuakhali-1, the minister said that as of March this year, the country has the capacity to meet import expenses for 4.5 months with the gross reserve amount.
Replying to a query from ruling Awami League MP Ali Azam of Bhola-2, the finance minister said that, according to the temporary account of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the per capita income of Bangladeshis in the 2023-24 fiscal year is $2,784.
Addressing a query on the volatile situation of the foreign exchange market, the finance minister said that generally, if a country has three months of import debt servicing capacity, it is not considered a reserve crisis.
"Bangladesh's current reserve amount is about $24.40 billion, which will be able to cover about five months of import liabilities, indicating that the foreign exchange market is stable," the minister said.
In his question, Awami League MP Afzal Hossain, elected from Kishoreganj-5, asked whether it is true that two-thirds of businessmen think that corruption, bureaucracy and the volatile situation in foreign exchange are the biggest obstacles to doing business in the country.
The ruling party MP also inquired whether the government had taken any effective initiatives to combat corruption in business.
Responding to a query from Awami League MP Nur Uddin Chowdhury Nayan, elected from Laxmipur-2, the finance minister said that a total of $10,572.90 million came into the country between January and May this year as remittances.
He said the highest amount of remittance during this period came from the UAE.
Govt organisations owe over Tk513b to banks
In response to a separate question, the finance minister told the House that a total of 56 government organisations owed around Tk513.91 billion to various public and private banks as of March 31 of this year, reports United News of Bangladesh (UNB).
According to statistics presented by the finance minister, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) had the highest debt, owing Tk 155.50 billion to banks.
Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology owed the lowest amount, Tk7.8 million.
Other major government debtors include sugar mills Tk78.13 billion; fertiliser, chemical and pharmaceutical industries Tk72.50 billion; other non-financial public corporations Tk60.60 billion; the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh Tk50.18 billion; Bangladesh Biman Corporation Tk44.41 billion; food ministry Tk6.44 billion; Bangladesh Jute Mills and related enterprises Tk6.03 billion; Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited Tk5.87 billion; Bangladesh Services Ltd Tk5.80 billion; Dhaka Electric Supply Company Tk2.78 billion; Equity Entrepreneurship Fund Tk2.66 billion; other financial intermediaries (public sector) Tk1.65 billion and Jahangirnagar University Tk1.44 billion.
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