DHAKA, April 6, 2018 (BSS) – Expatriate Bangladeshis sent US $10,761.29 million remittance in the first nine months of the current fiscal 2017-18, which is 17.04 per cent higher than the amount received in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal.
According to Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country received $9,194.59 million remittance during July-March period of 2016-17 financial year.
“The flow of remittances into the country rebounded in the current fiscal 2017-18 as BB took some measures to streamline the legal channel for encouraging the Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) to send money,” BB Deputy Governor Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hassan told BSS here today.
Earlier, he said, some NRBs used informal channels, including mobile banking, for sending their money home.
In the recent time, the use of informal channel has been reduced due to increasing the monitoring activities of the central bank and law enforces agencies over the illegal channel, he added.
He said mobile financial service providers, including bKash, are also playing a vital role to stop the illegal channel.
The BB deputy governor hoped that the inflow of remittance will be increased in the upcoming months as the Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest festival of Muslim, is coming.
According to the BB data, the country received 1,300.46 million in March, $1,149 million in February, $1,379.79 million in January, $1,163.82 million in December, $1,214.75 million in November, $1162.77 million in October, $856.87 million in September, $1,418.58 million in August and $1,115.57 million in July in 2017-18 fiscal.
But in 2016-17, the country received $1,077.52 million in March, $940.75 million in February, 1,009.47 million in January, $958.73 million in December, $951.37 million in November, $1,010.99 million in October, $1,056.64 million in September, $1,183.61 million in August and $1,005.51 million in July.
In March this year, six state-owned commercial banks- Agrani, Janata, Rupali, Sonali, Basic and BDBL- received $315.79 million while one state- owned specialised bank, Bangladesh Krishi Bank, received $11.34 million.
Of the state-owned banks, Agrani Bank received $125.55 million, Janata Bank $77.17 million, Rupali Bank $14.21 million, Sonali Bank $98.46 million and Basic Bank $0.40 million.
Besides, the expatriates have sent $13.82 million through foreign commercial banks. Among the private commercial banks, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) received the highest amount of $282.56 million as Dutch-Bangla Bank (DBBL) received $73.84 million.
Mutual Trust Bank Limited (MTBL) Managing Director Anis A Khan said the inflow of remittance is increasing day by day as the authorities concerned, including banks, are accelerating their activities to bring back the remittances through the legal channel.
“We are trying to make easier the process of legal channels to expedite the remittance flow. We are signing agreements with different exchange houses to bring the remittances in automated ways,” he added.