Remittance inflow rises 16pc

The flow of inward remittance jumped by more than 16 per cent in May this year over that of the previous month.

It was estimated at $1.27 billion in May 2017, up by about $175 million from $1.09 billion in April. It was $1.21 billion in May last year, according to the central bank's latest statistics, released Sunday.

"The flow of inward remittance increased significantly in May as always happens ahead of the Eid festival," a senior official of Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE.

He said the upward trend in inward remittance might continue until the end of this month.

Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) usually send substantial amount of foreign currencies to their near and dear ones ahead of the religious festival, which will be celebrated in the last week of this month.

However, the overall remittance inflow dropped by more than 14 per cent or $ 1.91 billion during the 11 months (July-May) of this fiscal year (FY) against the same period of the previous FY.

The receipts came down to $11.55 billion during the period of this FY from $13.46 billion in the same period of the last FY.

Another BB official said the authorities concerned were now working on increasing the inflow of remittance in the near future.

"We expect that the flow of inward remittance will improve in the upcoming fiscal year due to the initiatives taken by the authorities concerned," he said.

Some 29 exchange houses were operating across the globe, and 1,140 drawing arrangements have been set up abroad to expedite the remittance inflow, according to the central banker.

The central bank earlier took a series of measures to encourage the expatriate Bangladeshis to send their money home through formal channel, instead of illegal "hundi" system to help boost the country's foreign exchange reserve.

Some private commercial banks (PCBs) along with the state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) were desperately trying to increase the flow of inward remittances from the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy and the United States.

"We're establishing new contacts with overseas exchange houses so that our overseas workers can easily send the money home," a senior official of a PCB said.

Some banks were now offering higher exchange rates to the overseas exchange houses for receiving more remittances, defying advices of the BAFEDA (Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers' Association), he alleged.     

However, the PCBs received about $889 million in inward remittance in May while the SoCBs received $352 million, foreign commercial banks $12.65 million and specialised banks got $13.58 million, the BB data showed.

During the period under review, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited received the highest amount of remittance ($264 million) among the PCBs while Agrani Bank Limited got the highest amount of remittance ($132 million) among the SoCBs.

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