Inward remittances drop 23pc in September

---

FE Report The flow of inward remittances fell by over 23 per cent in September, the month following the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr festival. Bangladeshi nationals working abroad sent US$843.32 million in September last. The amount was lower by $258.47 million than the remittance earning in the previous month. In August 2011, the remittance stood at $1101.79 million, according to the central bank statistics released Monday. "Most of the remittances were sent in August last by the expatriates to their families back home to help the latter to celebrate the Eid festival in a comfortable way. So, the inflow of remittances decreased slightly in September 2011," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE. He also said the flow of inward remittances will pick up this month ahead of Eid-ul-Azha festival. "A large gap between the US dollar rates in the informal market and the official channel has also contributed to the decline in the inflow of remittance in September last," a private banker told the FE. He also said the inflow of remittances through the banking channel might be affected further in the near future if the green back rate gap between the kerb market and official channels widens. The exchange rate of US dollar in the open market, popularly known as kerb market, has been higher by around Tk 3.0 for more than a month than what is offered by state-owned banks. The private bankers, however, urged the authorities to take necessary actions immediately to check the rate-hike of US dollar in the kerb market. The greenback was sold between Tk 78.60 and Tk 78.70 in the open market Monday while the buying rates were between Tk 78.40 and Tk 78.50, a currency trader said. In the formal market, four state-owned commercial banks were selling the greenback at Tk 75.80 and buying it at Tk 74.80 Monday, treasury official of a commercial bank said. He also said most private and foreign commercial banks offered higher rates for the greenback than those of the state-owned banks. The country received $2.96 billion as remittances during July-September period of the current fiscal, registering a 11.35 per cent growth over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed. The central bank earlier took a series of measures to encourage expatriate Bangladeshis to send their hard earned money through formal banking channel instead of the illegal "hundi" system to boost the country's foreign exchange reserves. Currently, some private commercial banks along with state-owned commercial banks are desperately trying to increase the flow of inward remittances from the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy and the United States. "We're trying to increase the inflow of remittances from different parts of the world through establishing new contracts with overseas companies," treasury official said.