Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The flow of inward remittances dropped by 19.38 per cent in October last after showing an upward trend in the previous month on the occasion of the Eid-ul-Azha festival, officials said.
“The flow on inward remittances fell slightly in the month of October following celebration of the Eid-ul-Azha festival. Normally, the flow of remittance falls after the Eid festival,” a senior official of Bangladesh Bank (BB) explained.
Bangladeshi nationals working abroad sent US$1.09 billion in October last. The amount was lower by $261.46 million than the remittance earning in the previous month. In September 2015, the remittance was $1.35 billion. It was $1.02 billion in October 2014.
“We expect that the flow of remittance would pick up in the coming months,” the central banker noted.
He also said the BB is working continuously to expedite the flow of inward remittance from different parts of the world.
Currently, 34 exchange houses operating across the globe have set up 1112 drawing arrangements abroad to expedite the remittance inflow, according to the central banker.
The central bank of Bangladesh earlier took a series of measures to encourage the expatriate Bangladeshis to send their hard-earned money through the formal banking channel, instead of the illegal “hundi” system to help boost the country’s foreign exchange reserve.
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.
“Most of banks are now trying to establish new contacts with overseas exchange houses so that the migrant workers can find it easy to send money back home,” a senior official of a leading private commercial bank said.
BBN/SSR/AD