Nine-month remittance flow exceeds $8.0 billion

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=96915&date=2010-04-05

Nine-month remittance flow exceeds $8.0 billion
FE Report

Remittances from expatriate Bangladeshis exceeded US$8.0 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal, marking a rise of 17.36 per cent over the corresponding period of last fiscal.

The country received $8.254 billion in remittance during the July-March period of the fiscal 2009-10 compared with $7.033 billion received in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics released Sunday.

“The flow of inward remittances is at a satisfactory level,” a senior official of Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE, adding that the inflow of remittance might cross $11.50 billion by the end of the fiscal.

The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $941.31 million in March, up by $113.35 million from the level of the previous month. In February last the remittances stood at $827.96 million.

The latest figure shows that despite decline in overseas jobs, the remittance inflow has maintained a robust growth in continuation of last fiscal’s trend, when remittances grew by 22.41 per cent, the central bank officials said.

They said the central bank was working continuously by providing policy supports to the banks also raising awareness among people about using the banking channel, instead of illegal ‘hundi’, for remitting their money home.

A week-long roadshow ended at Tentulia in the country’s northern Panchagarh district on April 2, which would help increase the inflow of remittance in the near future, they added.

Besides, the central bank earlier took a series of measures to encourage expatriate Bangladeshis to send their hard-earned money through the formal banking channel, instead of using illegal “hundi” system, to boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

Four state-run commercial banks and dozens of private commercial banks have stepped up efforts to increase the remittance flow from the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy and the United States.

“We’re establishing new contacts with overseas exchange houses so that our overseas workers can find it easy to send money back home,” Managing Director of the National Credit and Commerce (NCC) Bank Limited Nurul Amin told the FE, adding that some banks were trying to set up their own exchange houses in different parts of the world.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $10.22 billion Sunday due to the robust growth in remittance flow.