Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladeshis working abroad sent home over US$14 billion in 2012 despite the ongoing economic slowdown in the USA and the EU countries, officials said on Wednesday.
“We expect that the existing inflow of remittances to continue in the new calendar year," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka, adding that the central bank is continuously working to increase the flow of inward remittances.
More than eight million Bangladeshi overseas workers remitted $ 14.175 billion, a record in the country’s history, in 2012, marking a 16.49 per cent growth over that of the previous calendar year.
He also said the stable exchange rate of Bangladesh Taka (BDT) against the US dollar also helped achieve the higher growth in inward remittances in 2012.
The country received $ 12.168 billion in remittances in 2011, registering a year-on-year growth of 10.57 per cent. The growth was 2.68 per cent in 2010.
The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $1.285 billion in December last, up by $ 183.15 million from that of the previous month. In November 2012, the remittances were $ 1.102 billion, according to the central bank statistics released on Wednesday.
“Higher manpower exports have also helped to increase the inflow of remittances in the last calendar year,” the central banker said, adding that the government has taken various measures to expedite the manpower exports to different countries across the world.
Around 607,798 job seekers went abroad in 2012, up from 39,736 persons of the previous calendar year, according to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) statistics.
The overseas recruitment in the last year recorded a nearly 7.0 per cent growth compared to the previous calendar year, the BMET data showed.
Four state-run commercial banks and dozens of 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.
"We're still serious about increasing the inflow of remittances through official channels to meet our internal foreign exchange demand," a senior official of a commercial bank said.
As part of the move, some banks are trying to set up their own exchange houses or making arrangements with overseas companies in the different parts of the world, he added.
The country's foreign exchange reserve stood at $12.756 billion Wednesday, due to the higher inflow of remittances, according to the central bankers.
BBN/SSR/AD-02Jan13-9:40 pm (BST)
