Record $1.090b remittance received in Mar

FE Report Bangladeshis working abroad remitted over US$1.0 billion in March this year--- the highest ever monthly inflow following crisis in the Middle East countries, officials said. "Panicky situation in different Middle East countries has pushed up the flow of inward remittance in the month of March," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE. He also said such flow of remittance may continue this month as well, but it would fall in future if the existing Middle East crisis lingers. "We're observing the latest developments in the Middle East countries closely," the central bank official said without elaborating. The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $1.090 billion in March, up by $103.52 million than that of the previous month. In February 2011, the remittance was $986.97 million, according to the central bank statistics released Monday. "The remitted amount in March is a new record after nearly one-and-half years," another BB official said adding that $1.050 billion was remitted in the month of November in 2009. The country received $8.598 billion during the July-March period of fiscal 2010-11, registering a 3.97 per cent growth over the same period of the previous fiscal, the BB's 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. The country's foreign exchange reserve stood at $10.745 billion Monday, despite nominal growth of remittance from Bangladeshis working abroad, the BB officials said.