Business Desk : dhakamirror.com
Remittance inflow to Bangladesh increased by more than 21 per cent in October compared with that in the same month in the past year, as expatriates favoured official channels, mainly state-owned banks, following a significant political shift in the country on August 5.
Bangladesh Bank data showed that remittance inflows reached $2.39 billion in October 2024, up from $1.97 billion in October 2023.
Bankers said that the preference for state-run banks was rising among remitters due to concerns over the stability of private banks, with allegations of liquidity issues and failures to meet depositor withdrawals in a number of private banks which suffered massive irregularities during the recently deposed Awami League regime.
On September 8, new Bangladesh Bank governor Ahsan H Mansur said that about 10 banks were at risk of bankruptcy.
In October, five state-owned banks captured a substantial 35 per cent of the total remittances, handling about $845 million.
These banks logged about 30 per cent or $745 million in the previous month also.
Before that such inflow through state-run banks could not be seen, bankers said.
Islami Bank Bangladesh, however, led with remittances of Tk 431 crore in October, followed by Agrani Bank with Tk 262 crore, Janata Bank with Tk 194 crore, Sonali Bank with Tk 151 crore, BRAC Bank with Tk 144 crore, Rupali Bank with Tk 117 crore and Bangladesh Krishi Bank with Tk 119 crore.
The influx of remittances was also high in September at $2.4 billion.
As a result, remittance inflow jumped to $8.93 billion in July-September of the 2024-25 financial year compared with that of $6.87 billion in the same period of FY24.
Considering government incentive alongside the formal dollar rate of Tk 120, the expatriates found it more lucrative through formal channels than the informal ones as the dollar price on the kerb market was about Tk 121 each.
The interbank dollar rate increased to Tk 120 each after a rise of Tk 7 on May 8.
The high dollar rates attracted expatriates to use formal channels for money transfers, avoiding illegal channels like hundi, bankers said.
The remittance inflow reached $23.9 billion in FY24, up from $21.6 billion in FY23.
The government and the central bank have taken a number of measures to increase remittance inflow through formal channels, BB officials said.
– Input from New Age was used in this article.
