Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The flow of inward remittances in Bangladesh dropped by nearly 15 per cent in August following the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr festival, officials said Thursday.
Bangladeshi nationals working abroad sent US$1.19 billion in August last. The amount was lower by $202.32 million than the remittance earning in the previous month. In July 2015, the remittance was $1.39 billion, according to the central bank statistics.
“We expect that the flow of inward remittances will pick up this month ahead of Eid-ul-Azha festival,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
He also said the central bank is working continuously to increase the flow of inward remittance.
The country received a total of $2.58 billion during the July-August period of the fiscal year (FY) 2015-16 against $2.67 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
The central bank 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.
BBN/SSR/AD