The country’s inward remittance increased by 11.42 per cent to $6.19 billion in the first five months of the current financial year 2014-15 from $5.56 billion in the corresponding period of the FY14. Bangladesh Bank officials attributed the increase to expatriate Bangladeshis’ sending of significant amount of foreign exchange on the occasions of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha and increased trend in the price of the US dollar against the taka.
According to BB data released on Tuesday, the inward remittance also increased by 10.11 per cent to $1.16 billion in November from $1.06 billion in the same month of 2013.
After a disappointing year, the inflow of inward remittance continued to maintain an increasing trend in the recent months of the FY15 that has already put a positive impact on the country’s macro-economic situation, a BB official told New Age.
The price of dollar continued to increase against the taka in November which also encouraged the non-resident Bangladeshis to send more greenback, he said.
The dollar quoted at between $77.72 and Tk 77.72 against the taka on December 1 from $77.40 and Tk 77.40 on November 1 of this year.
The price of the dollar increased in November due to higher import payment against lower export earnings in the last few months, he said.
For this reason, the inflow of inward remittance increased in November and the upward trend may continue in the next months if the price of dollar increases more against the taka, the official said.
Besides, the Muslims celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha in between July and October which also propelled the inflow of remittance in the first five months of the FY15.
The remittance inflow registered a negative growth in the FY14 for the first time in the last 14 years against the backdrop of decreased manpower exports along with political unrest during the period, he said.
The remittance inflow decreased by 1.61 per cent to $14.22 billion in the FY14 against $14.46 billion in the FY13, the BB data showed.
The expatriate Bangladeshis are now feeling encouraged to send more foreign exchange due to an eased political situation than the FY14, the official said.
He said the expatiates felt discouraged to send the remittance in the country during the unstable political situation in between July and January of the FY14 as they were worried about security of their hard-earned money due to a vulnerable position in the country’s law and order.
The non-resident Bangladeshis also felt discouraged to send the remittance in that period due to a sluggish business situation amid the political unrest.
The private commercial banks received $754.63 million in inward remittance in November while the state-run commercial banks received $383.88 million, foreign commercial banks $15.51 million, and specialised banks got $14.83 million, the BB data showed.
In November, Islami Bank Bangladesh received the highest amount of remittance — $294.77 million — among the private commercial banks, while Agrani Bank got the highest amount of remittance — $131.15 million — among the state-run banks.
-With New Age input
