Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– The inflow of remittances fell by over 13 per cent in September this year as the country observed Eid-ul Fitr festival, officials said.
Bangladeshi nationals working abroad sent US$838.17 million in September, a fall of $125.75 million compared to the previous month. In August 2010, the remittance was $963.92 million, according to the central bank statistics released on Tuesday.
“Most of the remittances were sent in the month of August in preparation to celebrate the Eid festival. So the inflow of remittances decreased in September slightly,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, said.
He also added that the flow of inward remittances will pick up this month ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha festival.
Bangladesh received $2.659 billion as remittances during July-September period of the current fiscal, registering a 1.79 per cent negative growth over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
The central bank of Bangladesh earlier took a series of measures to encourage expatriate Bangladeshis to send their hard earned money through formal banking channel instead of the illegal “hundi” system to boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
The country’s foreign exchange reserve stood at $10.84 billion on Tuesday, thanks to the robust growth of remittances from Bangladeshis working abroad, the BB officials confirmed.
BBN/SSR/AD-06Oct10-10:40 am (BST)
