Inward remittance flow reaches $2.02b in March

Staff Reporter :
Remittance inflow crossed USD 2 billion marks after six months in the current financial year of 2022-2023 and escalated by 29.29 percent in March than the previous month (February), according to latest Bangladesh Bank (BB) data published on Sunday.
Bangladesh Bank data showed that March remittance figure has totaled USD 2.01 billion , everyday on an average USD 65 million which amounted to Tk more than 21, 589 crore (107 taka per USD). The green back inflow through remittance has increased by 8.5 per cent year-on-year from USD 1.85 billion recorded in March last year.
Out of this inflow, state-owned commercial banks received USD 234.6 million. USD 45.06 million dollars has come through specialized banks. Local private banks and foreign private banks received USD 1.731 billion and USD 6.52 million respectively.
However, in March no expatriate income came through eight banks. These include the state-owned Bangladesh Development Bank (BDBL), specialized Rajshahi Agricultural Development Bank (RAKAB), private banks include Bengal Commercial Bank, Community Bank, Border Bank, and Foreign banks – Habib Bank, National Bank of Pakistan and State Bank of India.
According to experts, the remittance inflow increased through the banking channel as bankers offered a maximum Tk117 per dollar
when Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (BAFEDA) set the rate at Tk107.
Apart from this, in addition to a 2.5 percent hassle-free incentive for remittance, several banks also provide additional incentives and take no charge or fee for sending remittances to attract foreign exchange.
Regarding the increase of remittance inflow in March, a central bank official said to the journalists that remittances usually go up before Eid-ul-Fitr, which will be celebrated in the fourth week of this month.
As country’s foreign exchange reserves have been facing stress in recent times, so the latest inflow of remittances will certainly help both the central bank and the government to manage the macroeconomic situation, he added.
Meanwhile, in the first nine months of the current fiscal year of 2022-2023, total amount of remittance is around USD 16.03 billion and in the financial year of 2021-2022 and 2020-2021 Expatriates sent home USD 21.03 billion and USD 24.77 billion respectively.