Remittance inflow rises 11pc in first five months

BB’s close monitoring yields results

FE Report | Published: December 03, 2017 23:37:03

The flow of inward remittance grew by nearly 11 per cent or US$560.42 million in the first five months of the current fiscal year (FY) due to strengthened monitoring by Bangladesh Bank, officials said.
The inflow rose to $5.77 billion during the July-November period of the FY2017-18 from $5.21 billion in the same period of the FY2016-17.
The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $1.21 billion in November 2017, up by $51.98 million from $1.16 billion in October last, according to Bangladesh Bank (BB) statistics released Sunday. It was $951.37 million in November 2016.
"The inward remittance increased slightly in November due to strengthened monitoring by the central bank to curb illegal fund transfers," a senior official of BB told the FE.
He expected the uptrend to continue in the coming months.
Currently, 29 exchange houses of 15 commercial banks were operating across the globe to expedite the inflow of foreign currencies from the wage earners.
Besides, all the banks have set up 1,190 drawing arrangements abroad for collection of remittances from different parts across the world.
The country's central bank earlier took a series of measures, including mass awareness campaign, to encourage expatriate Bangladeshis sending their hard-earned money home through the banking channel instead of the illegal "hundi".
Four state-run commercial banks and dozens of private commercial banks have stepped up their efforts to increase remittance inflow from the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy and the United States.
"We're trying to increase the inflow by establishing new contacts with overseas companies," said a senior official at a leading private commercial bank.
He said that most of the banks still remained sincere about boosting the inflow through official channels to meet their internal foreign exchange demands.
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