Expats send home $1.67b remittance in 25 days

Expatriate Bangladeshis have remitted over $1.67 billion in the first 25 days of this month, according to the central bank data.

During the period, state-owned commercial banks brought home $354.28 million, specialised banks $74.37 million, private commercial banks $1.24 billion and foreign commercial banks $4.79 million, reveal the Bangladesh Bank (BB) data.

Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC retained its top position as the largest remittance collector, bringing in the highest amount of remittance sent by migrant workers, the BB data said. The bank fetched $229.01 million in remittance during the period.

The expatriates did not send any remittance through eight banks. These banks are state-owned Bangladesh Development Bank (BDBL), specialised Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB), and three private banks -- Community Bank, ICB Islamic Bank, and Padma Bank, and three foreign banks -- Habib Bank Limited, National Bank of Pakistan and State Bank of India.

In July, the first month of this fiscal year (FY) 2024-25, Bangladesh received more than $1.91 billion in remittances. In August, the figure rose to over $2.22 billion while over $2.40 billion in September, $2.39 billion in October, over $2.19 billion in November and more than $2.63 billion in December.

In FY 2023-24, the country received a total of $23.92 billion in remittances, equivalent to Tk 2.82 trillion, which marks the second highest remittance inflow in the country's history. The highest record was set in FY 2020-21, with remittances totalling $24.77 billion.

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