Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The central bank of Bangladesh has awarded 31 non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) for sending home the highest amount of remittance and investing in US Dollar bonds in the just concluded fiscal year (FY) 2014-15.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, also awarded two exchange houses for the first time for their contributions to help increase remittance inflow to the country, with providing NRBs necessary services for sending their hard-earned money home.
The two exchange houses are Placid N.K. Corporation and National Exchange Company, located in New York and Italy respectively.
BB Governor Dr Atiur Rahman handed over the awards to the NRBs and representatives of the exchange houses at a ceremony at the Bangladesh Bank Training Academy (BBTA) in the capital Dhaka on Saturday.
Remittances sent by Bangladeshis working abroad reached $15.31 billion, a record in the country's history, in the FY 15, marking a 7.6 per cent growth over the previous fiscal
The awardees include Abul Hashem living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), AHM Tazul Islam, Abu Nayeem Md Towhidul Alam, ATM Zahed, Mahtabur Rahman, Mostafizur Rahman, Oliur Rahman, Mohammad Shafiq, Mohammad Selim, Omar Faruk, Abdul Kuddus, Ayub Mia, Abdul Gani Chowdhury, Fakhrul Islam, businessmen in the UAE., Salim Mia, businessman in China, Shah Zahir Ahmed, businessman in Canada, Syed Abdul Kaiyum, businessman in Germany, Aminul Islam, Forkan Ahmed, businessman in Saudi Arabia, Babul Ahmed Ali, service holder in the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, Mujibur Rahman, businessman in Kuwait, Rezaul Hasan, Faria W. Runu, Mahmudul Huq, NRBs living in New York.
Other awarded NRBs are Muhammad Enamul Huda, service holder in the UAE, Aminur Rahman, a businessman in Papua New Guinea, Ayub Ali, Zagir Hossain Chowdhury, Abdul Karim, Rafiqul Islam Mia Arju and Zakir Hossain.
Of them, 11 awardees’ bank accounts are with the Janata Bank Ltd, four with Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd, four with Standard Chartered Bank, four with HSBC, two with Sonali Bank Ltd, two with NRB Commercial Bank, and four others with Agrani Bank Ltd, Al Arafah Islami Bank Ltd, the City Bank Ltd and Rupali Bank Ltd, according to the central bank officials.
The overall inflow of remittances from across the world was at satisfactory level in the FY 15, a senior central banker said.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) topped the list of major sources of remittances for Bangladesh with a total of $ 3.34 billion sent from the country in the FY 15.
Other top sources of remittances include the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and South Korea.
The BB earlier took a series of measures, including creating mass awareness so that the Bangladeshi expatriates can send their hard-earned money home through the banking channel instead of the illegal “hundi” system which helps boost the country’s foreign-exchange reserves.
In FY 14, the central bank awarded 24 NRBs, of them 20 were awarded as the highest remittance senders while the rest four got the award for investing in the bonds.
BBN/SSR/AD