Remittance falls by 5pc in Feb for turmoil

The flow of inward remittance fell by more than 5.0 per cent in February over the previous month, mainly due to the ongoing political situation along with fewer working days.
The remittance from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad was estimated at $1.18 billion in February 2015. The amount was lower by $64.62 million, received in January.
The inflow of remittances, however, increased by 0.47 per cent to $1.18 billion in February 2015 from $1.17 billion in the same month of the previous calendar year, according to the central bank statistics.
Senior officials of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), however, have not seen any relation between the ongoing political turmoil and the declining remittance inflow in February, while commercial bank officials have differed with the BB officials' observations.
"The flow of inward remittance is still at a satisfactory level," BB executive director Ahsan Ullah told the FE.
He also hoped that the inflow of remittance will cross $14 billion-mark by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), 2014-15, if the labour market in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is properly reopened for Bangladeshi workers after a six-year ban.
Bangladesh received $9.91 billion during the July-February period of this FY, registering a 7.63 per cent growth over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
Talking to the FE, a senior official of a leading private commercial bank (PCB) said most of the expatriates were reluctant to send their hard-earned money home due to the prevailing political unrest.
"Political stability usually plays an important role in increasing the inward remittance flow, as a portion of the remittance is used in investment."
He also said the inflow of remittance increased in the first half of FY 15, following normal political situation in the country. "But the trend was affected in January that continued until February," he noted.
The central bank earlier took a series of measures to encourage the expatriate Bangladeshis to send their money home through formal banking channel, instead of illegal "hundi" system, to boost the country's foreign exchange reserve.
Currently, some PCBs along with the state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) are desperately trying to increase the flow of inward remittance from the Middle-East, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy and the United States.
"Most of banks are now trying to establish new contacts with overseas exchange houses, so that the migrant workers can easily send their money home," the PCB official noted.
The PCBs received $773.11 million as remittance in January 2015, while the SoCBs received $375.23 million, the foreign commercial banks (FCBs) $14.65 million, and the specialised banks $15.64 million.
In February, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited received the highest amount of remittance worth $298.56 million among the PCBs. Agrani Bank Limited collected the highest amount of remittance worth $138.71 million among the SoCBs.
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