The inflow of remittance decreased by 2.05 per cent in January of this financial year compared with that in the corresponding month of FY2013-14 due mainly to the recent spate of political violence, said officials of the central bank. According to Bangladesh Bank data released on Monday, the expatriate Bangladeshis sent US$ 1.23 billion in remittance in January of the FY15 against US$ 1.26 billion sent in the same period of the FY14.
The BB officials said the ongoing political unrest was key reason for the decline in the inward remittances in last month.
The country has been facing political unrest since the beginning of January which has already put an adverse impact on the business and financial sector.
Amid the political unrest, the country’s investment sector is passing through a stagnant situation which discouraged the expatriate Bangladeshis to remit foreign currency, a BB official told New Age on Monday.
Besides, the expatriate Bangladeshis are feeling insecurity in remitting their hard-earned money due to declining trend in law and orders amid ongoing political unrest, he said.
He said that the inflow of inward remittance had increased sharply in the first half of this financial year due to a normal situation in the political front.
But the increased trend in the inward remittance faced a setback in January due to political violence.
The BB data, however, showed that the inflow of remittances had increased by 8.56 per cent in the first seven months of the FY15 compared with that in the corresponding period of the FY14.
BB spokesperson and executive director M Mahfuzur Rahman told New Age on Monday that the inward remittance had increased in the first half of FY15 as the country’s business sector enjoyed a vibrant situation due to an eased political situation.
The political stability usually plays an important role in increasing the inward remittance as a significant portion of the remittance is used in investment, he said.
The ongoing political unrest has hit in the private investment which discouraged the remitters to send their hard-earned money, he said.
‘The inflow of remittance also faced a setback in 2013 due to political unrest. The country is trying to enter into a better situation in the first half of the FY 15 avoiding the violence, but it again plunged in the unrest since January’, he said.
The private commercial banks received US$ 831.63 million in inward remittances in January while the state-owned commercial banks received US$ 372.92 million, foreign commercial banks US$ 14.34 million, and specialised banks US$ 15.84 million.
In January, Islami Bank Bangladesh received the highest amount of remittance — US$ 332.56 million — among the PCBs, while Agrani Bank received the highest amount of remittance — US$ 140.58 million — among the SCBs.
-With New Age input
