Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The flow of inward remittances fell slightly in February this year from that of the previous month due mainly to fewer working days, officials said.
Bangladeshi nationals working abroad sent US$1.130 billion in 19 working days of February last, less by $90.51 million than the amount remitted in the previous month. In 23 working days of January 2012, the remittance was $1.221 billion, according to the central bank statistics released on Sunday.
"We expect that the inflow of remittance will increase this month because of Boro crop cultivation across the country," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN, adding the central bank is continuously working to increase the flow of inward remittances.
Bangladesh received $8.420 billion during the July-February period of current fiscal year (2011-12), registering a 12.15 per cent growth over the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
The BB earlier took a series of measures to encourage the expatriate Bangladeshis to send their money through the formal banking channel, instead of the illegal "hundi" system to boost the country's foreign exchange reserves.
Currently, some private commercial banks along with the state-owned commercial banks are desperately trying to increase the flow of inward remittances 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 easily send home money," a senior official of a commercial bank said, adding some banks are trying to set up their own exchange houses in different parts of the world.
The country's foreign exchange reserve stood at $10.03 billion Sunday, due mainly to the higher inflow of remittances, another central banker said.
BBN/SSR/AD-05Mar12-7:55 am (BST)
