Remittance inflow from US marks 55pc rise

The United States (US) has been a major trade partner of Bangladesh for a long time, and now the country has become a major source of remittance with hefty increase in the inflow of the life blood of foreign exchange reserve, reports BSS.
The remittance inflow from the US to Bangladesh marked a phenomenal 55 per cent rise in the immediate past 2013-14 financial year (FY14), a sharp contrast to the recent trend of remittance inflow from the middle eastern countries.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) data released Wednesday showed that Bangladeshi expatriates in the US sent home $2323.32 million in FY14, which was higher by $824.86 million from the amount of the remittance that the country received from US in the previous 2012-13 financial year (FY13). The remittance inflow from US in FY13 was $1498.46 million.
With the 55 per cent increased inflow of remittance, the US became the third among the top five source of remittance for Bangladesh. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) maintained the top position in this list with Bangladeshi workers there sending home $3118.88 million in FY14.
United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Malaysia are the second, the fourth and the fifth major remittance sourcing countries when Bangladesh got $2684.86 million, $1106.88 million and $1064.68 million respectively from these three countries in FY14.
The remittance from UAE and Kuwait, however declined in FY14 from FY13, but it increased from Malaysia during the same period.  In FY13, the country received $997.43 million.