The flow of remittances wired by overseas Bangladeshis slightly fell in the first-quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year (FY) 2015-16 against the same period of the last fiscal year, the central bank said.
The inflow of remittance came down by 2.0 per cent to US$3.93 billion during the July-September period of the FY 16 from $4.01 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank latest statistics released on Sunday.
The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad amounted to $1.35 billion in September 2015, up by $151.26 million from the level of the previous month. In August last, the remittances stood at $1.19 billion. It was $1.34 billion in September 2014.
"The inflow of remittances increased significantly in the month of September due mainly to the Eid-ul-Azha festival," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE. Expatriates usually remit remittances during religious festivals to help families left behind celebrate the Eid.
He also said the overall inflow of remittance decreased slightly in the Q1 of the current fiscal, because overseas Bangladeshis wired bulk of remittances during the month of fasting, meaning ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr festival. The holy Ramadan fell in-between June and July.
In June, the last month of FY 15, the country received $1.44 billion before the Eid-ul-Fitr festival, but the inflow of remittance fell to $1.39 billion in July, the central banker explained.
The flow of inward remittance may fall slightly this month, he feared.
"We're working continuously to help boost the flow of inward remittance from different parts of the world," another BB official said without elaborating.
Currently, 34 exchange houses operating across the globe have set up 1,078 drawing arrangements abroad to expedite the remittance inflow, according to the central banker.
The country's foreign exchange reserves rose $26.41 billion on Sunday from $26.38 billion of the previous working day following higher inflow of remittances recently, the BB official added.
The central bank had earlier taken 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 to help boost the country's foreign exchange reserve.
Four state-run commercial banks and dozens of private commercial banks have stepped up efforts to increase remittance flow from the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy and the United States.
"Most of banks are now trying to establish new contacts with overseas exchange houses so that migrant workers can find it easy to send money back home," a senior official of a leading private commercial bank said.
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