Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The flow of inward remittance grew by 10.76 per cent in the first five months of this fiscal year (FY) due to strengthened monitoring by the central bank , officials said.
“The inward remittance increased slightly in November due to strengthened monitoring by the central bank to curb illegal fund transfers,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
He also said depreciating mode of local currency against the US dollar has also pushed up the inflow of remittance.
The central banker expected the uptrend to continue in the coming months.
The inflow rose to $5.79 billion during the July-November period of the FY2017-18 from $5.21 billion in the same period of the FY2016-17.
The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $1.21 billion in November 2017, up by $51.98 million from $1.16 billion in October last, according to the central bank statistics released Sunday. It was $951.37 million in November 2016.
Currently, 29 exchange houses of 15 commercial banks were operating across the globe to expedite the inflow of foreign currencies from the wage earners.
Besides, all the banks have set up 1,190 drawing arrangements abroad for collection of remittances from different parts across the world.
The country’s central bank earlier took a series of measures, including mass awareness campaign, to encourage expatriate Bangladeshis sending their hard-earned money home through the banking channel instead of the illegal “hundi”.
Four state-run commercial banks and dozens of private commercial banks have stepped up their efforts to increase remittance inflow from the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy and the United States.
BBN/SSR/AD