Published at: The Financial Express, May 03, 2019
The flow of inward remittances grew by 10.01 per cent in the first 10 months of this fiscal year (FY) as the exchange rate of local currency maintained a depreciating mode against the US dollar.
The Bangladeshi nationals working abroad sent home US$ 13.03 billion during the July-April period of the FY 2018-19 from $12.09 billion in the same period of the previous FY, according to the central bank’s latest statistics.
The remittance inflow registered $ 1.43 billion in April last, down from $ 1.46 billion in the previous month. It was $ 1.33 billion in April 2018.
“We expect the inflow of remittance to touch $1.50 billion by the end of this month, ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr festival,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE on Thursday.
The flow of overall inward remittance continues to maintain an upward trend due to the depreciation of Bangladesh Taka (BDT) against the US currency, the central banker explained.
Meanwhile, The BDT depreciated by 55 poisha against the greenback in the inter-bank forex market from January 03 to April 29, mainly due to higher demand for the US currency.
The US dollar was quoted at Tk 84.45 each in the forex market on April 29 last against Tk 83.90 on January 02 this calendar year.
It also remained unchanged at Tk 84.45 on Thursday.
Taking to the FE, a senior executive of a leading Shariah-based private commercial bank said: “We’ve taken different measures to provide better services to our clients particularly beneficiaries of remittances ahead of the Eid.”
The flow of inward remittances may cross $1.5 billion-mark by the end of May following such promotional activities, the private banker added.
Currently, 29 Bangladeshi exchange houses are operating across the world along with more than 1,200 drawing arrangements abroad to boost the remittance inflow, according to another BB official.
“We’re still working to expedite the inflow of remittances from different parts of the world,” the central banker said, replying to a query.
The central bank would soon submit a set of recommendations to the government for boosting the flow of inward remittance, he added.
The central bank of Bangladesh earlier took 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, which can help boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
