Inward remittances mark 26pc growth in September
Friday, 5 October 2007
FE Report
The growth of inward remittances was recorded at around 26 per cent in September last over the previous month due to onset of the holy month of Ramadan.
"The inflow of remittances increases ahead of the Eid-ul Fitr festival," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Thursday, adding that the upward trend may continue in the month of October.
In August last, the flow of inward remittances dropped by 14.71 per cent over the previous month mainly due to higher gap in the US dollar rates between the informal (kerb) market and the banking channel.
The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at US$592.78 million in September last, marking a rise by 25.86 per cent over that of the previous month. In August 2007, the remittance stood at the level of $470.95 million.
However, the overall inflow of remittances crossed $1.50 billion in the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal, registering a 22.61 per cent growth over that of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The remittance earnings in the period came as a continuation to last fiscal's trend and record inflow of $5.98 billion during that year. The growth of remittance earnings in 2006-07 was 24.52 per cent over the previous fiscal.
According to the provisional estimates of the central bank, the country received $1.63 billion during the July-September period of the fiscal 2007-08 against $1.33 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
The country's foreign exchange reserve stood at $5.11 billion Thursday due to the robust growth of remittances from Bangladeshis working abroad, sources in the BB said.
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 and to boost the country's foreign exchange reserves.
Besides, the BB has already directed the commercial banks to expedite delivery of remittances to the beneficiaries at the quickest possible time to encourage expatriates to use the banking channel for overseas fund transfers.
The growth of inward remittances was recorded at around 26 per cent in September last over the previous month due to onset of the holy month of Ramadan.
"The inflow of remittances increases ahead of the Eid-ul Fitr festival," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Thursday, adding that the upward trend may continue in the month of October.
In August last, the flow of inward remittances dropped by 14.71 per cent over the previous month mainly due to higher gap in the US dollar rates between the informal (kerb) market and the banking channel.
The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at US$592.78 million in September last, marking a rise by 25.86 per cent over that of the previous month. In August 2007, the remittance stood at the level of $470.95 million.
However, the overall inflow of remittances crossed $1.50 billion in the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal, registering a 22.61 per cent growth over that of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The remittance earnings in the period came as a continuation to last fiscal's trend and record inflow of $5.98 billion during that year. The growth of remittance earnings in 2006-07 was 24.52 per cent over the previous fiscal.
According to the provisional estimates of the central bank, the country received $1.63 billion during the July-September period of the fiscal 2007-08 against $1.33 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
The country's foreign exchange reserve stood at $5.11 billion Thursday due to the robust growth of remittances from Bangladeshis working abroad, sources in the BB said.
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 and to boost the country's foreign exchange reserves.
Besides, the BB has already directed the commercial banks to expedite delivery of remittances to the beneficiaries at the quickest possible time to encourage expatriates to use the banking channel for overseas fund transfers.