Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– Bangladeshis working abroad have remitted nearly US$946 million in November 2010 thanks to the Eid-ul-Azha festival, officials said on Monday.
The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $945.99 million in November, up by $22.14 million from the previous month. In October 2010, the remittance was $923.85 million, according to the central bank statistics.
“The flow of remittances has increased slightly during the period as the country observed the Eid festival,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said, adding that the inflow of remittances normally fall after the Eid festival.
The country received $4.528 billion as remittances during July-November period of the current fiscal, registering a 2.80 per cent negative growth over the corresponding period in the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
“We’re monitoring the overall inflow of remittance closely,” the official said, adding that the overall remittance growth is dependent on manpower export.
The BB earlier took a series of measures to encourage expatriate Bangladeshis to send their hard earned money through formal banking channel instead of the illegal “hundi” system to boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
Four state-run commercial banks and some private commercial banks have stepped up efforts to increase remittance flow from the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy and the United States.
The country’s foreign exchange reserve stood at $10.749 billion on Monday, despite of negative growth of inward remittances.
BBN/SI/AD-06Dec10-8:40 pm (BST)
