Remittance inflow hits 41-month low in Sept
Staff Reporter :
Expatriate Bangladeshis sent $1.34 billion in September, down 12.7 per cent year-on-year and a 41-month low since April of 2020, according to data from the Bangladesh Bank.
The central bank data showed, the lowest remittance inflow was last recorded back in April 2020 at $1.09 billion.
The amount of funds sent by Bangladeshi migrant workers was $1.54 billion in the same month of the previous year.
Besides, the remittance earnings were $1.97 billion and $1.59 billion in last July and August respectively, referring remittance earnings of Bangladesh continued to plunge for the third consecutive month.
Bankers and experts attributed the decline to the higher exchange rate of the US dollar in the open market, which is attracting expatriates towards informal cross-border money-transfer channels like “hundi”.
Out of the total remittance flow in September, state-owned commercial banks received $118.66 million. $35.1 million dollars had come through the specialised banks.
Local private banks and foreign private banks received $1.18 billion and $ 5.06 million respectively.
The highest $341.37 million remittance came to the country through Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd.
However, in September no expatriate income came through eight banks.
These include the state-owned Bangladesh Development Bank (BDBL), specialised Rajshahi Agricultural Development Bank (RAKAB), private banks named Bengal Commercial Bank, Citizen Bank Plc , Community Bank, and Foreign banks – Habib Bank, National Bank of Pakistan and State Bank of India, as per BB data.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has achieved a remarkable milestone in its manpower export during the immediate past fiscal 2022-23, sending a record 11.37 lakh workers abroad.
Despite this impressive performance in exporting manpower, the inflow of remittances has not seen a corresponding increase.
Remittances only grew by a modest 2.75 per cent, reaching a total of $21.61 billion in FY23.
The amount is nearly 13 percent lower than remittances received two years ago despite the government’s incentive of 2.5 per cent.
Migration experts and bankers have identified two major reasons for this discrepancy.
Firstly, informal hundi operators, who offer higher exchange rates, are attracting remitters away from formal channels.
Secondly, a considerable number of unskilled workers being sent abroad may be affecting the overall remittance amount.
It is alleged that only 51 per cent of the remittances that come to Bangladesh comes through formal and legal ways.
And the rest, 49 per cent of the remittances come through the illegal channel.
