Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The flow of inward remittances dropped by 15.43 per cent in the first four months of the current fiscal year (FY) 2016-17 against the same period of the last fiscal year, officials said.
The inflow of remittance came down to US$4.25 billion during the July-October period of the FY 17 from $5.03 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank latest statistics, released on Wednesday.
Talking to BBN, a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, said the flow of inward remittances decreased during the period under review mainly due to slower development activities in the Middle East.
He also said the overall development activities in the Middle East countries are squeezing gradually because of lower prices of petroleum products in the global market.
The central bank is also scrutinising different factors to find out any new leakage in channelling small-sized remittances through non-banking channels, another BB official told BBN.
He also said a high-powered committee has already been formed in this connection.
“The issue should be addressed by the authorities concerned immediately to boost the inflow of remittance through banking channel,” a senior executive of a leading private commercial bank said.
Such leaks are also responsible for reducing the amount of overall inward remittances during the period under review, according to the private banker.
The senior banker also urged the authorities concerned to take effective initiatives to expedite the flow of remittance for achieving maximum economic growth.
The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $1.01 billion in October 2016, down by $44.66 million from the level of the previous month. In September last, the remittances stood at $1.05 billion. It was nearly $1.10 billion in October 2015.
Currently, 29 exchange houses operating across the globe have set up 1160 drawing arrangements abroad to expedite the inflow of inward remittances, according to the BB officials.
The BB earlier took a series of measures, including creation of mass awareness so the expatriate Bangladeshis send their hard-earned money home through the banking channel instead of the illegal "hundi" system, which help in boosting the country's foreign-exchange reserves.
BBN/SSR/AD