The highest ever single-month inflow of remittances was recorded in July last at US$1.48 billion as expatriate Bangladeshis sent home increased amount of money on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr festival, officials said.
The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $1.84 billion in July 2014, up by $195.70 million from the level of the previous month. In June last the remittances stood at $1.29 billion, according to the central bank statistics.
"The inflow of remittances increased significantly during the period under review since expatriate Bangladeshis sent more money to their families back home to facilitate the celebration of Eid, the biggest religious festival of the Muslims, by the latter" a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Monday.
The inflow of remittances jumped by nearly 20 per cent to $1.48 billion in the first month of the current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 from $ 1.24 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
The highest single-month inflow of remittances was previously recorded at $1.45 billion in October 2012, the BB data showed.
The central banker also said the BB is working continuously to expedite the flow of inward remittances from different parts of the world.
Currently, 30 exchange houses are operating across the globe and 981 drawing arrangements have been made abroad to expedite the remittance inflow.
The flow of inward remittances may fall slightly this month, the BB official hinted.
The central bank earlier took a series of measures to encourage the expatriate Bangladeshis to send their hard-earned money through the formal banking channel, instead of the illegal "hundi" system to help boost the country's foreign exchange reserve.
Country's foreign exchange reserve stood at $21.53 billion Monday following the higher inflow of remittances, another BB official said.
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.
"Most of the banks are now trying to establish new contacts with overseas exchange houses so that the migrant workers can find it easy to send money back home," a senior official of a leading commercial bank said.
