Remittance inflow hits record $16.4b in FY19

Remittance inflow hit record $16.4 billion in the immediate past fiscal year 2018-2019 as appreciation of dollar and devaluation of Taka in the country stimulated expatriates to remit money through legal channels.

Apart from receiving record amount of remittance in FY19, Bangladesh received highest $15.32 billion remittance from expatriates in the fiscal 2014-2015.

The inflow of remittance in FY19 was 9.48 per cent or $1.42 billion higher than the amount received in FY18, $14.98 billion.

The country received $12.76 billion remittance in FY17 and $14.93 billion in FY16.

Bangladesh banks officials said that the record $1.75 billion remittance by the expatriates in May, the immediate preceding month of Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims, also helped attaining the record volume of remittance in FY19.

Besides the Eid-factor, appreciation of the dollar in the country’s local market against the taka was a major stimulus to sending more remittance through legal channels.

The interbank exchange rate of a US dollar increased to Tk 84.5 on Monday from Tk 83.9 at the beginning of January this year.

In the last 30 months, the taka was devalued by 7.37 per cent or Tk 5.8 and the interbank rate of a dollar was Tk 78.7 in January, 2017.

Apart from these, the economic situation of Middle Eastern countries from where Bangladesh receives the majority of its remittance has improved in recent months because of rising prices of fuel oils, BB officials said.

They said that the central bank’s move to curb illegal hundi also encouraged people to send money through the formal banking channel that boosted the remittance.

Meanwhile, the government has allocated Tk 3,060 crore in the budget for the fiscal year of 2019-20 to provide two per cent incentive for remittance receipts and to encourage the expatriate workers to send money through legal channels.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net