Dhaka Remittance Inflow Drops 13.14%

The remittance dollar rate hit a record high of Tk127, driven by overdue foreign payments and aggregator exchange house practices, signaling economic challenges. Banks reported paying up to Tk127 for remittance dollars, a sharp rise from Tk121.80 in early November.

Bangladesh is grappling with a dollar shortage, primarily due to increased demand from state-owned banks to settle overdue import payments. This has led to a surge in the remittance dollar rate by nearly Tk2, as banks compete for foreign currency.

Bangladesh's remittance inflows continued their upward trend in November 2024, reaching US$1.726 billion in the first 23 days of the month. This follows a strong performance in October, with $2.395 billion received, driven by expatriates' growing confidence in the banking sector and their tendency to send larger sums towards the end of the year.

In the first three months of FY 2024-25 (July-September), Bangladesh received $654.20 million in remittances, with Dhaka district receiving the highest ($213.87 million) and Bandarban the lowest ($0.45 million). Remittances increased by 33.32% compared to the same period last year.

Bangladesh received $1.25 billion in remittances during the first 16 days of November 2024, with a daily average inflow of $78.44 million, up from $72.77 million recorded by November 9, as per Bangladesh Bank data on November 17. Expatriates sent $655 million in the first nine days of November, with an additional $600.14 million recorded between November 10 and November 16.

In the past three months, Bangladesh has received over $7 billion in remittance, as per an interim government report marking the period under Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus. During this time, 222,821 Bangladeshi workers went abroad, with 4,426 employed through Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL).