Bangladesh Bank on Monday introduced NRB Database Web link in a bid to bring the non-resident Bangladeshis under the financial service sector of the country.
BB governor Atiur Rahman inaugurated the NRB Database at the central bank headquarters in the capital while senior officials of the central bank attended the programme.
The governor said that the central bank would give award to the top 10 largest remitters every year as the country’s economy has become dependent on the remittances from expatriate Bangladeshis.
He asked the BB officials concerned to take measures in this regard so that the central bank can give the award from this year.
He said that around one crore Bangladeshis were now working in different countries and they (NRBs) could be enlisted in the database easily.
The BB will inform the NRBs about different financial services of the central bank, scheduled banks and non-bank financial institutions through using the database.
The non-resident Bangladeshis will be able to know about various types of investment in Bangladesh through the database, he said.
The BB will resolve the complaints of the NRBs through the database if they face any problem to get financial services, he said.
The central bank will inform the NRBs about the financial services through e-mail, he said.
Atiur said that the country’s foreign exchange reserve had recently crossed $17 billion mark for the first time on the basis of the expatriates’ remittances.
‘But the expatriates’ earnings are now being spent in the unproductive sectors as their (NRBs) relatives usually purchase land and build houses by using the money’, he said.
From now on, the expatriates will be able to receive information through the website about the productive investment, he said.
Under the circumstances, the country’s overall investment will get a tempo if the expatriates invest their earnings in the productive sector.
A BB official told New Age the expatriate Bangladeshis would be able to post personal information in the database linked to the central bank’s website.
The database will give a clear picture about the expatriates and enable the authorities to locate the problems they face, he said.
The expatriate Bangladeshi workers usually face trouble due to a complicated recruitment process back home, he said.
People from Bangladesh
and outside would be able to communicate with expatriate Bangladeshis through this database, he said.
It will also have information on how to send remittances home and how the expatriates can take part in economic activities in Bangladesh, he said.
Besides, the database will create a social network among the NRBs.
He said that the NRBs were now remitting only 50 per cent of their earnings through the banking channel and rest of the amount came to the country through illegal channel.
The BB will encourage the NRBs by using the database to send their earnings through the banking channel, he said.
The central bank will also conduct its financial literacy programme among the NRBs through the database so that the expatriates can take appropriate decision about investment.
Probashi Kallyan Bank has already started to create a database for the NRBs and the BB’s database will be linked with the PKB’s website, he said.
BB deputy governor Nazneen Sultana, executive directors Md Ahsan Ullah and Sudhir Chandra Das, among others, attended the programme.
-With New Age input
